Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, authorities say an EMSA unit was driving with their lights on to a call when a truck failed to yield and turned in front of the ambulance near S.E. 44th and Bryant.  

The EMSA unit crashed into the truck, causing the ambulance to rollover on its side.

Police said the driver of the truck was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.

Over the past five years, EMS demand in the city has risen by 15 percent, with the department responding to 23,282 calls last year. Ambulance rides are also on the upswing; crews took people to emergency rooms on 66 percent of the calls last year.  

Chief David Hoback told the Roanoke City Council on Monday that as a consequence, the department has seen a decline in meeting performance targets, such as response times. Roanoke County and Salem also have sent crews into the city more often to assist with calls. Unnecessary use of emergency services is not unique to Roanoke. Agencies around the country are trying to find solutions to unnecessary ambulance rides that can contribute to wear and tear on vehicles and delay services to patients who really have emergencies. A hospital ride takes an ambulance out of service for about an hour in Roanoke.

Rice Lake is now able to respond to calls with up to six fire fighters at a time instead of just two.

The pump capacity of 1,500 gallons per minute is much higher than the previous amount of 1,000 gallons per minute.  

Rice Lake’s mayor says this truck was long overdue, but it took some time to get because of the financing. The truck cost $492,000 and all the money used to purchase the fire truck came through fundraising.

"Last week, we did four days of training on it with the manufacturer. Hopefully, it will be in service by next week," said Cody of the brand new 2018 Ferrara model. "We've slowly been replacing our fleet. We got the first new truck in 2012. Our fleet was getting old. The city went through some hard times there for a while, so we had to put purchases on the back-burner. It's nice that we've been able to restore our fleet." The 2018 engine came at a cost of more than $550,000, according to Cody, who added it was a lease purchase through the city. The acquisition was approved by the city over a year ago and the lease extends beyond seven years, he said. Cody pointed out a second newer truck arrived back in 2016 and is exactly like the newest purchase. He said it usually takes about 300 days for trucks to be delivered after they are paid for. At the same time, one of the department's oldest trucks, a 1992 engine, is going to be sold while a 1994 machine will be used as a backup.