An ambulance owned by an unidentified private company caught fire Tuesday morning at Wolfs Lane and Franklin Place near the Pelham Middle School entrance.
The Village of Pelham Fire Department arrived at 7:35 a.m., and the incident was under control about an hour.
The cause of the fire in the private ambulance is being investigated, said Village of Pelham Fire Chief Robert Benkwitt III. No injuries were reported, he said.
Village of Pelham Engine 5 and Ladder 2 responded to the fire, according to the Pelham Professional Firefighters Local 2213 Facebook page. “Members quickly deployed an attack line and established a water source,” the post said. “The challenge of mitigating this incident was the onboard oxygen lines feeding the fire. Members were able to secure the onboard oxygen tanks safely and knock the fire down.”
Traffic during school drop-off was disrupted for about an hour, the post said.
The school district via an email at 8 a.m. told middle and high school students to enter the secondary campus through the main entrance to Pelham Memorial High School. The schools were safe for students and staff, the email said.
High school science classes were relocated to the auditorium due to smoke during the period, while middle school teachers were advised to open their windows to air out the smoke before first period.
In an 11 a.m. email, the school district said “all regular entrances to both the high school and middle school are open and our day will continue on a regular schedule.”
“We would like to thank our first responders who worked diligently to manage this situation,” said the email. “We would also like to thank our safety monitors and staff for their help in keeping our students safe and our families for your patience morning.”
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