SEQUIM — The cause of an Olympic Ambulance fire remains unclear a week after it destroyed two ambulances and a carport, representatives said.
At about 2 a.m. July 13, a fire started in the front of an ambulance’s engine compartment about seven minutes after it was parked at 601 W. Hendrickson Road, Clallam County Fire District 3 officials reported.
David Nuelle, CEO of Olympic Ambulance Services, Inc., said backup ambulances were in place from the company’s fleet of more than 45 ambulances.
“Even though this happened in the middle of the night, there was no disruption to our EMS service to Clallam County,” Nuelle said.
“We had replacement ambulances in service within a few hours and the entire site cleaned up within 12 hours.”
Damages
Initial damage estimates were said to exceed $500,000, fire officials reported, yet Nuelle said an exact amount is still to be determined.
“The best news is that no one was hurt in the incident and the outpouring of support from our other emergency service partners was overwhelming,” he said.
Firefighters from Sequim, Blyn and Carlsborg were called.
Sequim police officers blocked off roadways between Seventh Avenue and Garry Oak Drive while crews stretched a hose line across the street to provide water for the blaze.
Off-duty personnel and Fire District 3 volunteers were called in for additional assistance, said Clallam County Fire District 3 officials.
Fire District 2 of Port Angeles was also dispatched to the scene and responded with a fire engine, district chief and four personnel.
Fire District 3 had a medic unit, two fire engines, a water tender, a rescue truck, a rehab unit, multiple volunteers and a duty chief at the fire.
Nuelle issued “a special thank you to the local fire departments and police department in Sequim for their rapid response to the incident as well as their offerings of assistance.”
