Compartment Door of Pittsburgh Ambulance Flies Open, Hits Car

"This happens all the time...These ambulances are in bad shape."

That's what a Pittsburgh fire supervisor told a man after a compartment door on a city ambulance flew open and struck his parked car, WPXII reported.

The driver of the ambulance stopped, and told Larry Cmar he'd be back after dropping off his patient at the hospital.

A rear light was broken and a panel below the bumper came off, Larry Cmar told a reporter.

“His supervisor came out and the first thing they said was, ‘This happens all the time,’ and I’m like, ‘What do you mean it happens all the time?’ They said, ‘These ambulances are in bad shape.’"

Cmar tried to help him close the compartment door. But, they couldn't because the latch was broken.

Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said: “I’m aware of it, through the chiefs and the incident reports, but I don’t have details of the cause or anything like that. I know the door came open but I’m not sure if it was a malfunction of the latch or user error."

Cmar is waiting for the city to pay the $3,200 damage so he can get back to work as an Uber driver.

About a month ago, a rear axle snapped on an ambulance as it left the hospital.

Councilman Bobby Wilson said he's concerned about the shape of the fire department's fleet.