By Patti Dobranski
Tribune-Review (Greensburg, PA)
Copyright 2006 Tribune Review Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved

GREENSBURG, Pa. — A Westmoreland County Prison guard was in critical condition Monday after his vehicle was hit by an ambulance that police said ran a red light in Hempfield Township on Monday morning.

State police at Greensburg said a Penn Township Ambulance Rescue 6 vehicle driven by Jason R. Fait, of North Huntingdon Township, was traveling west on Route 130 at 5:49 a.m. when he ran a red light at North Greengate Road and hit a Ford Bronco driven by Frank J. Scalise Jr., 46, of Murrysville, that was traveling south.

Scalise suffered major injuries, police said, and was flown by medical helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. A hospital spokeswoman said he was listed in critical condition in the trauma unit.

Police said the ambulance was heavily damaged, but Fait was not injured. Police indicated that the ambulance was returning to its station after transporting a patient and did not have lights or sirens activated.

A spokeswoman at the Westmoreland County Prison said Scalise was on his way to work when the accident occurred. She said he has been employed there as a guard since about 1992.

An on-board camera mounted in the ambulance will be reviewed during the investigation, police said. An accident reconstruction team was at the crash site yesterday morning.