The City of Sparks' newest fire station is back open after a two-month hiatus.
Station 6, located at 6963 Scheidbar Rd, sat unstaffed starting in June while the city says it analyzed data about responses and deployment.
It originally opened last November.
Reno and Sparks Fire Chief Dave Cochran says both of his fire departments are lacking manpower, so they had to move some resources around to get Station 6
“We've been able to manage our resources and reallocate them around the City of Sparks so that now all six Sparks fire stations are open,” Cochran says.
The City of Sparks says its agreement with Reno to share Dave Cochran as fire chief is a big reason why.
Cochran says Sparks Fire had to move one of its engines from Station 1, at 1605 Victorian Ave, up north to reopen Station 6. Plans are in the works for Reno Fire to take on some calls in downtown Sparks to make up for it.
“We're working on an auto aid agreement with Reno so that we can have those responses covered not entirely by Reno but reduce the call volume,” Cochran says.
The chief says they'll reduce call volume further by responding less to low acuity calls, like minor injuries and public services.
Both departments have limited resources, so the goal moving forward is to shuffle them around to provide the best services possible.
“It's not a cost savings approach,” Cochran says. “This is a 'how do we take the resources we have, use them in a more efficient fashion and provide better service’ [approach]. And when we realize savings, we're going to reinvest that to make both departments better."
Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson adds, "it's new and it's different and it's scary for some of the troops. But at the same time, we go back to the service industry. That's what we do. We provide a service.”
Neighbors say they're glad to once again have fire crews ready to go nearby.
“I'm getting very positive feedback that Station 6 is open,” Lawson says. “People feel safer, and I think that's important. The feeling of being safe is almost more important than being safe."
Cochran says both departments are facing financial constraints, but he’ll look to expand staff where possible.
Station Six sat unstaffed starting in June while the city says it analyzed data about responses and deployment. It originally opened last November.
