A Polk County Fire Rescue ambulance with four crew members aboard en route to a call Friday night crashed into the building once occupied by Proud Gator.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said all four crew members were injured, two of them with fractures.
The Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened just before 11:45 p.m. The ambulance was on its way to an emergency call, traveling south on South Florida Avenue, with its emergency lights on when it attempted to use the center lane to pass a vehicle that was unable to yield near Palmetto Street. The area is near the northern end of the Dixieland road diet, with concrete curbs in the outer lanes.
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When the ambulance entered the center turn lane the driver saw the center concrete media and swerved to avoid it but hit the median with the left front tire and began to lose control. The ambulance then hit the right concrete curb with its right front and rear tires and careened across the northbound lanes where it left the road and smashed into the building at 700 S. Florida Ave.
Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the scene. All four crew members were taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center. The driver and a crew member in the rear compartment were treated for unspecified minor injuries. One crew member, seated in the right front passenger seat, was treated for broken hand. Another crew member, seated in the front middle seat, was treated for a broken shin bone and ribs.
Ambulance hits 'road diet' curbs, smashes into former Proud Gator … – The Ledger
