Lanes drainage engineers tackle ambulance fire

Ambulance chiefs have praised two Lanes Group drainage engineers after they used their water jetting hose to tackle a fire that broke out in an ambulance as it responded to a 999 call.

Paul Sheehy and Gavin McDonald had been returning to the Lanes Eccles depot after unblocking a drain when they passed the ambulance that had come to a halt on the slip road to St Peter’s Way in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

As they stopped at traffic lights just in front of the vehicle, they noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet, so they pulled over and used their water jetting hose to spray water on the fire until the fire service arrived.

Their actions stopped the fire from spreading to the patient compartment, which contained oxygen cylinders that could have exploded, and medical equipment worth tens of thousands of pounds.

In a message of thanks to Lanes Group, Stuart Marshall, Operations Manager for Greater Manchester Ambulance Service in Wigan and Bolton, said: “The actions of your operatives were beyond that expected of any member of the public, and as such they should both be commended.

“The incident developed very quickly, and I have no doubt the actions of Paul and Gavin both helped save the fire from getting out of control, and also save vital lifesaving equipment in the rear of the ambulance.”

Mr Marshall said he would be writing a personal letter of thanks to Paul and Gavin.

Jetting engineer Gavin said: “When we stopped, the ambulance had its blue lights on. An automatic fire extinguisher had gone off in the engine compartment, but smoke was still coming from under the bonnet.

“We got out jetting hose out and sprayed water through the vents below the windscreen into the engine compartment to try to damp things down.

“As cars were still passing the ambulance and people were gathering close by to watch, we worked with the ambulance crew to divert the traffic and advise people to stay away.

“After about 10 minutes, fire crews arrived and told us we could turn our hose off. As soon as we did, flames erupted and started getting into the driver’s cabin. The firefighters put them out with their own hoses.”

Paul Sheehy said: “The smoke had been building up in the moments before the fire service arrived, so it was clear things were getting worse. We made sure we were standing well back.

“The senior fire officer thanked us for what we did. He said it was clear that without us cooling the fire, it would have spread much more rapidly, and the gas cylinders on the ambulance would probably have exploded, destroying the vehicle and causing a serious incident. As it happened, the fire damage was contained in the front of the vehicle, which we’re very pleased about.”

The Lanes Group drain unblocking van pack vehicle carries 100 gallons of water which the company’s engineers use to unblock and clean drains.

Paul said: “We had just come from a job, but luckily had some water left, which we used on the ambulance at low pressure because we wanted to try to make it last until the fire service arrived.”

The ambulance had been responding to a 999 call when the crew had to stop on the slip road, there was no patient on the ambulance at the time, and another ambulance crew was sent to deal with the emergency.

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