Boothbay Region Ambulance Service will soon roll out its new ambulance, which arrived about a month ago.

“The fundraising response for the ambulance was phenomenal,” said BRAS Director of Operations Scott Lash. “The community really came through and Brenda (fundraising chairman Brenda Blackman) was phenomenal as well.”

“Once we got near our goal of raising $50,000 by the end of the year, the contributions just came rolling in,” said Blackman. “We were receiving money from people we didn’t even know.” Blackman said she really enjoyed being the chairman to raise funds for the new ambulance. “We’re very lucky to have such a great service as this in our communities.”

The combination of the $62,000 raised, Paul and Giselaine Coulombe’s matching grant of $50,000 and money from BRAS’ capital reserve account helped pay for the $140,000 vehicle.

The new ambulance, called a Mini Mod because it is slightly smaller than a regular size ambulance, is being equipped with needed features. Lash said Thursday he expects the ambulance to be ready for service sometime in the next week. The ambulance was purchased at Sugarloaf Ambulance/Rescue Vehicles in Wilton and manufactured at PL Custom Ambulance in Manasquan, New Jersey.

“It is a cost-effective vehicle,” said Lash.

One of the older ambulances will be taken out of service and sold, said Lash.