“Several Ambulances Have Caught Fire” and One Ran out of Fuel while detailed to Presidential Motorcade

Photo via ‏ @rescue1dcfd

From IAFF36’s website:

“In the continuing saga of the District’s ambulance crisis, there was startling news reports: several ambulances have caught fire. A-27 (Deanwood), followed by A-07 (Waterside) a short while later. Both units have been placed out of service – reducing even further the number of units now available to serve the city. Yesterday, news agencies reported that M-01 ran out of fuel while detailed to the Presidential motorcade, the same unit has had a non-working fuel gauge since at least April of this year. Local 36 has continuously sounded the alarm, over periodic fleet maintenance, the number of units available at any given time, and staffing levels. The city is still operating at a deficit in regards to all three – even though the Department is fully funded. Mayor Gray, and Fire Chief Ellerbe have done little to fix a quickly deteriorating fleet, nor kept up with the pace of personnel departing at an alarming rate. Their preference is to cast blame back upon the same hard-working members who are “doing more, with less” more frequently. It has become clear that Chief Ellerbe is no longer capable of leading the department. It is time for the collective voice of the community to speak out, and address the mounting threat to the public’s safety.”

From a DC Government press release:

“We are aware of an incident involving a D.C. ambulance detailed to a presidential motorcade on Aug. 8. The incident already is being investigated, and corrective action will be taken. Beyond that we are not commenting further, as our policy is not to publicly disclose details on any matters involving D.C. public safety employees assigned to the president.

It is completely unacceptable for a vehicle in service to ever run out of gasoline. Every morning, our crews are instructed to refuel and ensure their vehicle has a full tank. It is important that our employees are consistent to detail while performing their duties, because the goal of our mission is to keep everyone in the District safe.

George Ogilvie of the United States Secret Service, said his agency “works closely and on a continuous basis with D.C. Fire and EMS. Any issues with equipment related to the movement on Thursday 8/8/13, were dealt with quickly and efficiently and there was no break in ambulance coverage for the motorcade.”

@rescue1dcfd, who tweeted the photo above, write:

“Third time in under two weeks that this has happened in the Nation’s Capitol”