An older pick-up truck used by the Courtenay Fire Department is on its way to rural Mexico.
The 2008 Chevrolet Colorado, a light duty pickup, was scheduled to be replaced last year.
It was offered for auction on CivicInfo BC with a reserve bid of $8,000. But there weren’t any takers, except for a single bid of $1,550.
The truck wasn’t offered for sale to the general public because of the substantial lighting modifications which had required numerous holes in the body.
Then to the rescue came a local paramedic, Ryan Thorburn, who works with Rotary clubs in the Comox Valley and municipalities in Mexico. Over the past three years, he has been involved in the delivery of four ambulances to Mexican communities in need.
He offered $2,000 for the Courtenay vehicle, noting that it will be donated to a mountain village between Puerto Vallarta and Guadelajara which doesn’t have any emergency vehicles.
“The city will be receiving a reduced salvage value for the vehicle but it will be put to good use in Mexico,” reported city purchasing manager Bernd Guderjahn.
“Essentially we wanted to inform council that staff had received an offer to sell the truck. The fire department has found an opportunity to sell to a rural Mexican fire department, at no cost to the Mexicans,” said CAO Dave Allen. “It will be put to good use. This to us is a good news story.”