In transporting a patient to Sparrow hospital on Thanksgiving, a Grand Ledge ambulance caught fire under the 496 viaduct on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The ambulance is one of just two that the fire department has in service. Now Grand Ledge is down to one.

"Smoke was noticed coming in from underneath the doghouse in the the drivers compartment and it just continued to get worse and worse and then they realized they had a fire in the engine compartment, said Grand Ledge Fire Chief Casey Godlewski.

The fire started in the six liter Ford engine is not a stranger to problems.

"These engines have been problematic since we bought these," said Godlewski. "It's kind of hit or miss. One day it may run, next day it may not."

The only one working ambulance now has an identical engine to the one that caught fire. Chief Godlewski said the department is looking into replacing the engine.

"The problem is sometimes nothing jumps out at you," said Godlewski. "Nothing broke, it just overheated."

A third ambulance just arrived to Grand Ledge last week but it is still in the shop waiting to be detailed. In the meantime, the department has enlisted the help of neighboring agencies for mutual aid.