Ambulance fire, four-vehicle crash occurs on I-29

BISMARCK, N.D. (KXNET) — Northbound I-9 was briefly closed on the evening of Saturday, June 8, after an ambulance caught fire while transporting a patient — a

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, around 9:15 p.m., an ambulance in Day County, SD, was traveling on the highway when it suddenly caught fire. The driver of the vehicle (a 71-year-old man from Webster, SD) stopped in the first lane and assisted the other paramedic in removing a patient from the rear.

The paramedics and the patient they were transporting were able to escape the vehicle safely. The patient was transferred to the care of a Breckenridge-Wahpeton ambulance and taken to Sanford Hospital in Fargo.

The ambulance was a total loss. Northbound I-29 was closed for approximately 45 minutes while the fire was extinguished.

While the highway was closed, a four-vehicle accident occurred about a mile south of the ambulance when a BMW passenger car rear-ended another vehicle, causing the collision two other vehicles heading north.

Nine occupants were present between the four vehicles involved, and at least five were transported to Fargo hospitals due to injuries sustained in the crash. I-29 was also closed at this location for approximately 45 minutes while the accident scene was cleared.