Ambulance burns less than a month after Ford retrofit
DEPARTMENTS
Dispatches
An ambulance built on a Ford Econoline chassis caught fire June 22, 20 days after Ford Motor Co. had installed a retrofit kit intended to prevent such fires.
The fire totaled an ambulance (above) owned by the Waldorf (Md.) Volunteer Fire Department, minutes after a patient had been taken out of the back of the vehicle. Both the department and Ford explain that the retrofit was done as part of a pilot program and attribute the fire to a bad grommet, or fuel seal. Ford has since put a more durable grommet in the retrofit kit—which consists of oversized fuel-venting system parts and emission control devices.
The retrofit program, which affects about 16,000 Econoline E-350 chassis for model years 1983 to 1987, has now come to be called a ‘ safety recall,” although by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s definition, it’s been one all along.
NHTSA’s investigation of fuel spill problems with the ambulances— which have resulted in about 15 fires over the past year—is still open, and the cause hasn’t been pinned to the chassis. Ambulance makers modify chassis from various automakers, and Ford contends it may be the modifications that cause the fires.
Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 ambulances had been brought in for retrofit by mid-August, says a Ford spokesman. (Photo by Sgt. Jane Wannan. Prince George’s County [Md ] Fire Department)
