An ambulance is seen in the city of Osaka in this unrelated file image. (Mainichi/Ryoichi Mochizuki)

       GIFU -- A firefighter in his 20s drove an ambulance a total of 24 times while his driver's license was suspended, before causing an accident while responding to an emergency, a fire department in central Japan's Aichi Prefecture announced on Dec. 10.

       The Inazawa City Fire Department revealed that the firefighter, an assistant fire sergeant at its Inazawa Higashi branch station, drove an ambulance 24 times over a month when his license was under suspension.

       It emerged that the firefighter's license was suspended after he caused an accident that damaged property while he was driving an ambulance following an emergency call.

       The fire department took disciplinary action against him on Dec. 10, suspending him from duty for six months.

       According to the department, the assistant fire sergeant was caught speeding on the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway in the city of Gujo, Gifu Prefecture, on July 15 while he was behind the wheel of his own car. A speed trap showed that he was going at least 50 kilometers per hour over the speed limit. He had his license suspended for 90 days from Nov. 4.

       Regardless, he continued to commute in his own car and drive ambulances. On Dec. 4, while he was rushing to the scene of an emergency, he hit a stop sign in the Nazukacho district of Inazawa, which led to the discovery that he had turned in his driver's license. The rescue team had to change the driver to transport a patient to the hospital.

       At the fire branch station, a superior had inspected firefighters' driving licenses every morning, but because the assistant fire sergeant had a color copy of his license in a card case when he showed it, the superior apparently failed to notice that it was not a real license.

       (Japanese original by Tomohiro Inoue, Gifu Bureau)

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