ST. GEORGE, Utah – About a dozen ambulances were on the auction block Saturday after a southern Utah ambulance company went through bankruptcy proceedings.
Dixie Ambulance in Washington County filed for bankruptcy in April, and officials with the company said that was caused when the state awarded an exclusive state license in their area to Gold Cross Ambulance.
Aaron Shelton, Statewide Auction Company, said they extended invitations to the auction primarily to emergency services companies. He said there are dozen ambulances, two of which are brand new 2013 models. The rest range from 1982 to 2007.
“So it’s our job to reach out to as many people who may be interested in this as we can,” he said. “We’ve been reaching out to emergency responders throughout the state in other markets and neighboring states. We’ve been trying to get the right players here, and hopefully they’ll get some use out of these this equipment.”
Dustin Coggeshell, Utah Navajo Health Systems, said even though the ambulances have been sold, some of them will still be around.
“Today we bought two ambulances here at the auction,” he said. “They’ll be used for an ambulance service we’re taking over.”
Auctioneer Tom Erkelens said the new ambulances sold well.
“The turnout was great,” he said. “There wasn't much interest in the older ambulances, but the newer ones brought in great money.”
Dixie Ambulance operated in Washington County for 32 years.
