Fire Hits North Carolina EMS Station
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Fire heavily damaged a Wake County EMS station in North Raleigh on Thursday afternoon, destroying an ambulance, according to Wake EMS officials.
A two-person ambulance crew had just returned from a call shortly before 1 p.m. and was preparing lunch when they heard what sounded like fire in the ambulance bay at the station on Six Forks Road near Millbrook Road, EMS District Chief Jeffrey Hammerstein said.
The crew opened the door to the bay to see flames rising to the ceiling, before scrambling outside to safety, Hammerstein said.
"The ambulance itself was fully involved, heavy, heavy damage," he said. "There's no way it will be used again."
Raleigh Fire Marshal Rusty Styons said the fire appears to have started in the engine compartment, but it's not yet clear why.
The fire damaged the two-vehicle ambulance bay; the other ambulance assigned to the station was on the road at the time, Hammerstein said.
The building won't be usable for some time, but that should have little or no impact on service, Hammerstein said. EMS ambulances are frequently on the move anyway, with calls automatically going to the closest crew.
"It's not like there's a segment of North Raleigh that will go uncovered or less covered by any means," he said.
Copyright 2011 - The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
