EPHRATA — Two companies are proposing to replace Grant County Fire District 5’s ambulance service.

LifeLine Ambulance and American Medical Response submitted proposals to replace the service, originally scheduled to close by the end of April. A coalition of fire districts, cities and hospitals requested bids from companies to replace the services.

The proposals were originally scheduled to be opened at the beginning of February, but the deadline was extended to March.

A coalition committee is conducting background checks, investigating how the proposals comply with the original request for bids and evaluating the companies, according to Ephrata City Administrator Wes Crago. The committee plans to have a recommendation before the end of March.

Crago said the committee has divided up duties for evaluating the proposals, and plans to meet together several times before making a recommendation to the agencies.

“The two proposals were very different in terms of scope and specifics, which is going to place an additional burden on the committee to evaluate and compare both,” he said.

Fire district 5’s Chief Roger Hansen said the delay won’t affect the transition, adding the district budgeted the service for the entire year, with plans to end it between April and June.

“The timeline for both companies was within 60 days,” he said. “It is well within our timeline, so there’s no issue there.”