Sunstar ambulance catches fire at Tarpon Springs car wash
A Sunstar Paramedics ambulance went up in flames Saturday morning and threatened to catch a neighboring building on fire, according to Tarpon Springs Fire Rescue.
The incident occurred just before 11 a.m. at the Auto Bath Car Wash at Pinellas Avenue and West Morgan Street. The self-serve car wash is attached to a building that houses Chris’ Prescription Shop at 701 S Pinellas Ave., said Stylianos Splinis, the incident commander at the scene. No injuries were reported, Splinis said.
Three Sunstar Paramedics crew members pulled into the car wash and began washing the ambulance when they noticed smoke coming from the vehicle, according to Richard Schomp, a spokesperson for Sunstar Paramedics. The crew members found smoke and flames coming from underneath the driver’s side dashboard.
The crew called 911 and helped evacuate the area, Schomp said. When Splinis arrived, he said, the ambulance was engulfed in flames and the roof of the car wash had caught fire. Palm Harbor Fire Rescue and East Lake Fire Rescue helped extinguish the flames, and by 11:30 a.m., fire crews had called the situation under control.
Splinis said he could not comment on the cause of the fire because it is still under investigation.
A photo of the scene from Nick Popham, a reporter with Tampa Bay Times partner Bay News 9, shows the shell of an ambulance and the roof of the car wash caving in.
“We were fortunate to be able to get there quickly enough to just stop it from extending it into the structure, which was a pharmacy adjacent to the actual car wash,” Splinis said.
The ambulance, Schomp said, was a total loss.
