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| Photo Credit: KITV 4. |
An ambulance fire in Hawaii killed a patient and critically injured a paramedic Wednesday after the vehicle caught fire and exploded, authorities say.
“We had an
ambulance tonight for reasons we don’t understand catch on fire, possibly
explode, prior to entering the hospital,” said Dr. Jim Ireland, the emergency
services director, according to The Associated Press. “We’re all just very
concerned about our team and the patient that lost their life.”
The Honolulu
Department of Emergency Services boss noted at a news conference Wednesday that
"this is something I've never seen before," according USA TODAY.
The patient,
91 died who was in the back of the ambulance died in the encounter as the
vehicle near Adventist Castle Health in Kailua, located in Oahu Wednesday night.
An emergency
medical technician who drove the ambulance at the time of the crash was unhurt
but the paramedic who has served for eight years as a veteran with the department
sustained serious injuries, according to The Associated Press. He was initially
treated at the hospital but was rushed to another emergency room at the Straub
Burn Unit.
“All our
paramedics, EMTs and dispatchers are all treasured members of our staff and or
family, they save lives every day, and it’s just very hard to be in a situation
where our team is the ones who are injured. I’ll just leave it at that,”
Ireland said, according to The Associated Press. “Please pray for him.”
The cause of
the fire is not yet known.