On Friday, July 24, 2009
The McMinnville Fire Department may never have another custom-built emergency vehicle like the one that crashed today.
The vehicle, which few regional fire departments own, took months to build by a South Carolina-based company, American LaFrance Fire Engine Co. It cost $200,000 in 2000 and served as both an ambulance and rescue vehicle, carrying heavy-duty tools and 300 gallons of water.
Early today, on the way to an emergency call, the vehicle veered off a two-lane county road, rolled twice and was totaled.
The driver, Teri Apodaca-Stonebarger, 46, of Carlton, and her passenger, 38-year-old John K. Gephart of McMinnville, were not injured.
Fire Chief Rich Leipfert said the accident was a blow.
"We have a variety of other ambulances, but this has a special design, and it's the only one that we have," he said.
The Yamhill County Sheriff's Office, which responded to the accident, said Apodaca-Stonebarger was at fault.
"It was determined to be operator error," said Capt. Ken Summers, spokesman for the sheriff's office. "They went around a curve and drifted into the gravel. (The vehicle) caught and it rolled at least two times."
No citations were issued, he said.
Leipfert said the vehicle, Rescue 1, was responding along with a fire department ambulance to a critical medical call at Rock of Ages Care Facility in McMinnville when it crashed about 6:15 a.m.
The ambulance arrived at the care facility and the 82-year-old patient who was suffering chest pains was treated, he said.
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