Wash. Ambulance Burns Inside Station

Firefighters from Pacific County Fire District No. 1 didn't have to go far to respond to a blaze after one of their ambulances caught fire inside their station over the weekend.

Two firefighters and the department's public education coordinator were inside the station at approximately 7 p.m. on Aug. 14 when they smelled smoke and found the ambulance on fire in the apparatus bay, according to Chief Jacob Brundage.

Because the station's pumper truck was next to the burning ambulance, firefighters opted to jump into a brush truck and pull it around to the front of the bay to knock down the fire.

After they extinguished the blaze, a tow truck pulled out the ambulance while it was still smoking.

"If wasn't for our on-duty crew being attentive and finding the fire early on and their improvisation of using the brush truck, we certainly could have had more damage," Brundage said.

The quick response helped saved a lot of the equipment and prevented further damage to apparatus, according to the fire chief. The pumper next to the ambulance suffered some smoke damage, but is still operational.

"We were left with a mess to clean up, but we didn't lose a lot of equipment," he said.

The 2009 ambulance -- purchased brand new just six months ago -- sustained approximately $100,000 in damage. The building sustained between $25,000 and $50,000 in damage.