CNG Ambulance Switched To Diesel

Palm Desert’s compressed natural gas ambulance that underperformed for firefighters has been retired and replaced by a diesel powered one, a city official said today.

The medic patient compartment was removed from the CNG chassis and put onto a “clean diesel” engine, according to Stephen Aryan, assistant to the city manager.

Texas-based Frazer Ambulance retrofitted Palm Desert’s ambulance for $78,000, according to Aryan.

“It will be better,’’ Aryan said.

The ambulance, which was unveiled by the city in January 2010, only put out 82 miles per tank, well below the mandated average of 250 miles in Riverside County, according to Capt. Scott Visyak of the Riverside County Fire Department, which contracts with Palm Desert for its firefighting services.

A Riverside County firefighter will fly to Texas to “inspect and take possession” of the diesel powered ambulance, he said.

He estimated that it will take about a week to bring the ambulance to Palm Desert.

“Hopefully within the next two to three weeks it will be back on the streets,’’ Aryan said.

The city has four ambulances that run 24/7 and two backups, which included the CNG ambulance before the retrofit.

The ambulance initially cost the city $186,000 to convert the emergency vehicle, according to the city.

The unit was built on a Ford E450 chassis by Frazer Ambulance at its Houston, TX facility over a six-month period.

The ambulance was the first CNG-powered emergency vehicle in the state and the nation.