Driver who died in ambulance crash identified

A man who was killed Tuesday afternoon in a head-on collision with an ambulance in Northeast Hazel Dell was identified as Michael E. Ryan of Vancouver.

Witnesses reported seeing Ryan’s 2007 Saturn Ion sedan driving erratically before the crash, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were dispatched at 1:48 p.m. to the 3600 block of Northeast 78th Street for a report of a two-vehicle crash. Medics and firefighters responded to the call at the same time, according to emergency dispatch logs.

An AMR ambulance occupied by two paramedics was traveling east on 78th Street when it was struck by Ryan’s westbound sedan, according to a sheriff’s office news release. The ambulance was not on a call and there was no patient inside.

First responders freed Ryan from the wreckage, which took an extended amount of time. Medics performed life-saving measures on the driver, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the sheriff’s office. 

The paramedics suffered injuries that are not believed to be life threatening. They were taken by ambulance to a hospital for evaluation, according to AMR.

The crash is being investigated by the Clark County Sheriff’s Traffic Unit.