A Polk County Fire Rescue engineer/paramedic was at fault in the accident that sent an ambulance crashing through the wall of the former Proud Gator store, according to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office report released Monday.
The ambulance was en route to a call — traveling southbound on South Florida Avenue with its lights and sirens on at 11:43 p.m. Friday — when it came upon a vehicle that “was unable to yield to the right due to the concrete medians,” the report states.
The engineer started moving to the center lane to pass the vehicle, not realizing there is a pedestrian refuge island in the road just south of Hickory Street. Upon seeing the island, the engineer “attempted to maneuver around but struck the median with the front left tire and began to lose control.
The ambulance careened southbound and “struck the right shoulder median with both right front and rear tires.” That caused the ambulance to be ”redirected towards the northbound lanes in a southeast direction,” where it crashed through the exterior wall of the recently closed Proud Gator store at 700 S. Florida Ave.
Photos of the scene showed a gaping hole in the building and the front of the ambulance completely crushed with front wheels askew and its shattered windshield has torn from its frame.
Fire Rescue spokeswoman Katelyn Hoverkamp said there were four crew members in the ambulance at the time of the accident. They had been dispatched to the scene of a disabled vehicle in which the driver was “reportedly experiencing a possible medical condition,” Hoverkamp said.
Hoverkamp said the employees included one firefighter/EMT, one firefighter/paramedic, one paramedic in training, and one engineer/paramedic. All four were transported to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center by colleagues in another PCFR ambulance after the crash.
The driver and a crew member in the rear of the vehicle had minor injuries. A crew member in the right front passenger seat had a broken hand. The crew member in the front center seat suffered fractured ribs and a fractured tibia.
PCSO spokeswoman Carrie Horstman said the vehicle the ambulance tried to pass did not stop, “so we don’t know who that driver was or what that vehicle was.”
The distance and heavy black skid marks on the road and the concrete barriers raised questions about how fast the ambulance was traveling at the time of the crash.
Although the report states that the ambulance was the “violator vehicle,” Horstman said no citations have been issued. The crash is still under investigation by the sheriff’s office.
“A citation may be pending the complete investigation,” she said.
Hoverkamp said that was not a factor on Friday night. Three of the crew members were on regular duty and one (not the driver) had come in voluntarily to work overtime.
The PCSO accident report said the driver showed no signs of impairment, although it is standard practice for government employees to submit to blood tests after an accident while on duty. Hoverkamp said it has not been determined yet what it would cost to repair the ambulance, or if the vehicle is a total loss.
This is about the ambulance crash. The medians that are beside the road are stupid. They need to be in the middle of the road. Whoever thought of that is an idiot