According to emergency medical technician Anthony McLaughin, Fork Ridge Emergency Medical Services will close down at the end of the year, leaving about 65 square miles of Marshall County to be covered by other stations, he said.

"Unfortunately, more people will die because of it. There's no other way to put it," he said.

McLaughlin said the reason the station is closing is a lack of money. The organization loses about $10,000 a month, he said.

He said the EMS has to pay employees, insurance, worker's comp. and other bills. Plus, he said, many customers are on Medicare or Medicaid, which doesn't provide enough money to pay for the services.

"It's to the point where you make $60 to transport a patient 25 miles to a hospital. You can't sustain that," he said.

McLaughlin said switching to a volunteer organization is not an option.

"We've got a lot of able-bodied people in this subdivision. Nobody wants to get involved. Nobody wants to get the training, nobody wants to take time out of their lives to help others," he said.

According to Marshall County Administrator Betsy Frohnapfel, Emergency Management and 911 Center officials will meet with other ambulance services in the area to figure out how to cover the area.

"The end of the year, we'll close down. We can't afford to go any further than that. All the equipment and supplies will be sold off to make sure every single bill that this department owes is paid for before we shut it down completely, and then it's done," McLaughlin said.