No one was injured when a vehicle from the Mansfield Ambulance Service went up in flames at OhioHealth MedCentral in Mansfield at approximately 9:58 a.m. Friday.
According to Assistant Chief Jim Bishop with the Mansfield Fire Department, the vehicle was parked in front of OhioHealth MedCentral at the Wound Care area, on the east side of the hospital. The drivers of the ambulance had gone inside the hospital to pick up a patient and the ambulance vehicle was turned off when the fire started. The drivers were in the cafeteria when they were advised their ambulance was on fire.
“A couple was parked next to (the ambulance) and when they got out of their vehicle they looked in and saw the fire,” said Bishop.
That couple was Steve McKown and his wife, who moved their vehicle to safety once they realized the ambulance was on fire.
“We were parked right next to the vehicle and when we were leaving the hospital, I went to open the door for my wife and saw the squad on fire,” said McKown in an email.
Bishop stated the fire appeared to have started in the cab area of the ambulance before consuming the entire truck. The fire completely burned the back roof of the ambulance off and part of the side and front of the vehicle. In addition, a couple oxygen tanks in the back of the ambulance blew just prior to the Mansfield Fire Department making an attack on the fire.
“It blew debris on a surrounding vehicle,” said Bishop. “There was just one vehicle that had some plastic that landed on it causing pretty minor damage. The rest of the surrounding vehicles had some smoke and possibly a little heat damage.”
A representative from the Mansfield Ambulance Service declined to comment on the estimated cost of the damage to the vehicle. Bishop guessed including the equipment inside the ambulance, the cost of damages would come to approximately $150,000.
“It was their oldest truck, but if they were to have to replace it it’s going to be at least that,” said Bishop.
According to the Mansfield Ambulance website, Mansfield Ambulance operates Richland County’s largest ambulance fleet composed of ten advanced life support ambulances, each costing between $68,000 and $110,000. All are late model Ford and Chevrolet diesel ambulances manufactured by McCoy Miller and Horton Emergency Vehicles.
Bishop said an investigator pinpointed the location where the fire started, but the cause is still under investigation.
