HEALTH CARE : Irvine-Based CareLine Makes New Buy in Quest to Be Top Ambulance Service

CareLine Inc. is speeding ahead with its strategy to become the nation’s largest ambulance operator.

The Irvine-based company said Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to purchase Life Line EMS, an ambulance service in Wichita Falls, Texas, for an undisclosed sum.

The deal follows by a week an announcement that CareLine is planning to raise $60 million by selling corporate IOUs so that it can have a war chest for acquisitions.

The proposed takeover still needs federal regulatory approvals.

Chief Executive M. Keith Huzyak said that he wants CareLine to become the largest publicly held ambulance operator in the United States. The dream so far appears daunting--CareLine is half the size of rival American Medical Response Inc. of Boston.

Since its founding in 1992, CareLine has bought nine ambulance operators in five states: California, Alabama, Colorado, Atlanta and Massachusetts.