Local fire agencies are working on a plan to improve emergency response times by combining their resources.
It's still a work in progress; but the Reno, Sparks, and Truckee Meadows fire chiefs have been working together for a few months now on a regional fire plan to provide resources regardless of jurisdiction.
The fire chiefs are focusing on expanding their auto-aid and dispatch alignment.
Truckee Meadows and Reno Fire already have a collaboration plan together, but they say their dispatch is a little disorganized right now.
Reno Fire Chief Dave Cochran says, "Right now it's a little clunky because—Chair Hill mentioned it today—we have two separate dispatch centers, two separate CAD systems; so that makes it a little clunky, but we're going to have one single CAD and hopefully one single dispatch come fall. And I say 'fall' because it will be late September or early October what we're talking about right now."
Fire agencies are also waiting to see if Senate Bill 319 gets passed on the senate floor. This bill aims to direct regional fire protection districts to look into how fire and EMS services can be delivered more effectively with greater financial flexibility.
"It will likely go into how to fund that, different options for funding that, whether it's under the current system or some different system so really we're open to all possibilities," says Cochran.
While they wait to see where the bill goes, fire chiefs will continue to work on finalizing the regional fire plan.
