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Safety probe over ambulance fires

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

safety probe over ambulance fires An inquiry has been launched into the safety of ambulances across Wales after three separate engine fires broke out in vehicles in the last two weeks.

Mercedes-Benz has started an "urgent investigation" but has told officials there is no need to take the new £16m fleet out of service.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said it was treating the matter "extremely seriously".

An investigations team has flown over from Germany to examine the engines.

It is understood two ambulance engines caught fire in north Wales - one near Bangor, Gwynedd and the other on the A55.

The third incident was in the south of the country. No-one was hurt in any of the fires.

The 119-strong fleet of Mercedes Sprinter 515 vehicles was only introduced in Wales last year and hailed as the "best ambulance in service in the UK" as the trust aimed at improving the service's performance.

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said in a statement: "I can confirm we have had three events of engine fires in our vehicles.

'Extremely seriously'

"We use standard Mercedes engines in our vehicles which have not been modified in any way.

"We are treating the events extremely seriously and have initiated an urgent investigation with Mercedes-Benz.

The spokesperson added a preliminary investigation was carried out by the Mercedes-Benz UK Technical team before the team from Germany carried out more detailed investigations to establish the cause and necessary rectifying action.

"We are reassured that this matter has been escalated to the very highest level within the Mercedes-Benz organisation and it is being treated with the utmost priority," the spokesperson added.

The ambulance service said it immediately issued a health and safety alert across Wales to safeguard patients, staff and the public.

"These engines are used throughout the industry and we have followed the advice of Mercedes who reassured us that there was no need to take the fleet out of service," the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz said it was aware of the situation.

"We have initiated an urgent investigation into these incidents to establish the cause. While that investigation is under way, we are naturally unable to comment any further."

source: bbc news