VIDEO: An ambulance carrying a patient caught fire and burned along Interstate 40 near Garner during rush hour traffic Friday afternoon, officials said.
The incident was reported just before 6 p.m. in the westbound lanes of I-40 near U.S. 70, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
The ambulance was a New Hanover Regional Medical Center critical care transport vehicle, according to Garner Deputy Fire Chief Tim Herman.
A witness, Bill Farley with Bandit Towing, said he saw the ambulance before it caught fire and then encountered the vehicle ablaze.
Farley was on I-40 near N.C. 210 working on towing another vehicle when he first saw the ambulance go by.
“I smelled smoke — that didn’t smell right. I didn’t think much of it but three or four minutes later I found him (ambulance) down the road flames shooting from the hood,” said Farley who recorded cellphone video of the fire.