TORONTO, Ont. – Power outages and a major road closure affected Oshawa Saturday morning, after reports indicate a private ambulance clipped a hydro pole before going up in flames.
Durham police confirm it appears to have been an AmbuTrans vehicle which hit a pole on Simcoe Street, just north of Taunton Road, before the oxygen aboard appears to have caught flame and exploded.
Police say there was no passenger on board and there are no reports of any injuries.
A caller named Alison described what she saw.
“An ambulance clipped a hydro pole, and then the oxygen tanks exploded, the entire vehicle is just in flames, they’ve closed the road off, the hydro is out in the area,” she said.
“I was lying in bed, I was awake, and all of the sudden there was a big bang and a huge explosion and it rattled the house, it certainly got me out of bed, there is dark black smoke,” said another caller.
Following the crash, Simcoe Street was closed north of Niagara Drive, as hydro employees worked to restore power to an estimated 2,000 customers. Durham police said the closure was likely to last around an hour.
