PILOT ROCK, Ore. — A fire department in Oregon was surprised with a donation of an ambulance free of charge last week.
The East Oregonian reported the Pilot Rock Fire Department had been struggling with their undependable ambulance for years now.
“It has electrical problems,” Fire Chief Ron Neeley said. “We’ve been through four alternators and we can’t figure out what’s happening. Every time it goes out, it’s down three or four days. We’ve been trying to figure out how to replace it.”
The department received a call from Darrin Umbarger, CEO of Clearview Disability Resource Center, offering to donate an ambulance from their center. The ambulance had been given to the center last year by the Pendleton Fire and Ambulance service for non-emergency transports.
“We asked for the donation so we could drive bariatric patients to their doctor appointments,” Clearview CFO Carol Umbarger said.
They soon realized it would cost about $20,000 to outfit the ambulance with a bariatric lift and decided the ambulance could be better used elsewhere. Clearview refused to accept any money for the ambulance.
“The ambulance was donated to them,” Chief Neeley said. “They didn’t want to make any money off of it.”
The Pilot Rock Fire Department will have to cover the expenses of adding lights and sirens to the ambulance and adding lettering to the sides.