Cause remains unknown for Olympic Ambulance fire

By Matthew Nash • July 21, 2021 1:30 am
Officials with Clallam County Fire District 3 say a fire on July 13 started in the engine compartment of an ambulance at Olympic Ambulance but why it started remains under investigation. Photo courtesy of Clallam County Fire District 3
Officials with Clallam County Fire District 3 say a fire on July 13 started in the engine compartment of an ambulance at Olympic Ambulance but why it started remains under investigation. Photo courtesy of Clallam County Fire District 3

Olympic Ambulance representatives say there’s been no disruption in services after a fire burned two ambulances and a carport last week.

Around 2 a.m. July 13, a fire started in the front of an ambulance’s engine compartment about seven minutes after it parked, Clallam County Fire District 3 officials reported.

Its cause remains unclear more than a week later, they said.

David Nuelle, CEO of Olympic Ambulance Services, Inc., said backup ambulances were in place from its fleet of more than 45 ambulances so there wasn’t an interruption of Sequim’s services headquartered at 601 W. Hendrickson Road.

“Even though this happened in the middle of the night, there was no disruption to our EMS service to Clallam County,” Nuellesaid.

“We had replacement ambulances in service within a few hours and the entire site cleaned up within 12 hours.”

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.

“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.”