Guilford- Last year, an out-of-control driver hit one of Guilford's ambulances as it was transporting a patient to Yale-New Haven Hospital, then left the scene of the accident.
At the request of emergency services, the Board of Selectmen has approved a request for $34,000 in repairs to that ambulance, a request that goes next to the Board of Finance.
“The other driver ran a red light and ran into our ambulance at 50 mph,” said Fire Chief Charles Herrschaft, who appeared at a Feb. 21 Board of Selectmen meeting to ask the town for $34,000 for a new ambulance chassis to replace the one damaged in the wreck.
The fire department has three ambulances, Car 1, Car 2 and Unit 141, plus a rescue unit in North Guilford. On Nov. 29, Unit 141 was transporting a patient from a facility in Guilford to New Haven. The ambulance was traveling with traffic without sirens and was broadsided by a vehicle that ran a red light. The parents of the patient were driving behind the ambulance and witnessed the entire incident.
The Board of Fire Commissioners' minutes note that the vehicle that hit the ambulance was “totaled” and the occupants ran. Police estimate the car was traveling 50 to 60 miles per hour when it hit the ambulance.
Two members of the fire department were shaken up and injured, and have filed worker's compensation claims after seeing physicians. The patient being transported was not hurt.
According to Fire Commission Chairman Kenneth Wilson, Jr., and Herrschaft, the driver's insurance company will pay for some of the damages to the ambulance, mainly the removal of the ambulance box from the chassis and the repairs to the box and the older chassis.
But before it can be reimbursed, the Fire Commission is asking for $34,000 from the town for the replacement of the ambulance chassis.
“The second party's insurance company has agreed to make a payment of $32,360,” wrote Wilson in a letter to the Board of Selectmen.
It is the Fire Commission's opinion, wrote Wilson, that it would be financially sound to replace the chassis instead of repairing it, since the present chassis has 96,665 miles on it.
Chief Herrschaft said of the three ambulances, all are getting up in miles.
“Car 1 has 96,000 miles on it; Car 2 has 127,000 and Unit 141 [the one involved in the collision] has 96,665 miles on it,” said Herrschaft.
Wilson said that the request for a new chassis does not reflect the additional payment by the insurance company for the frame repair and the amount of money that it will receive for a trade-in.
“Since the insurance company is paying for the removal of the box and there is no additional cost to install this box onto a new chassis, the town would be realizing a savings of over $30,000,” wrote Wilson.
First Selectman Carl Balestracci said he wanted to get the repairs done as soon as possible so the town would not be without an ambulance. Herrschaft said that the repairs would be completed in April or May.
The selectmen, in a unanimous vote, sent the request to the town's Board of Finance asking that the $34,000 come from the contingency fund.