We have an update on the consolidation of two fire stations in Washoe Valley into one to better distribute fire resources.
The county voted to recommend their staff work on consolidating Fire Stations 30 and 32 into one.
The county said they're doing that to try to balance fire resources between the north and the south.
"It's difficult to say one person needs it more than another but that's not what we're trying to do. We're trying to provide quality service to everybody in the most efficient manner and it's difficult when you have a very slim and meager budget to do it,” says Washoe County Commission Chair Bob Lucey.
However, like we mentioned on Monday, some residents we spoke to today are concerned they aren't getting their fair share of fire resources.
“Yes we have fought against being a higher-density area for a reason. We moved to Nevada because we don't like California we don't like that style of living and yet they're penalizing use for it,” says Mandy McNitt.
Neither station would be removed until a new one is built.
Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District will look into where the new fire station would be located and it will take at least two and a half more years.
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Tim Salyer lives off Old Highway 395 in Washoe Valley. In the last eight years, he has witnessed the Washoe Drive, Little Valley and Slide Fires. That fire threat is the reason why he opposes the consolidation of Washoe Valley's two main fire stations.
"I just think they have a real lack of resources out here," Salyer said. "We have a dry, high desert community here. We have a lot of fuel to burn and we have a lot of winds."
Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District operates Station 30 at Bower's Mansion and Station 32 on East Lake Boulevard. The two stations combine for an average of 1.61 calls per day. That represents two of the three lowest call volumes in the county. Chief Charles Moore says his final recommendation will close the two stations and build a new one in Washoe City.
"We're actually making the system more efficient and we're actually adding more resources in the way of EMS and law enforcement," Moore said.
The new station would include a four-man crew. The current stations have three-man crews. It would also include a substation for the Washoe County Sheriff's Office and a station for REMSA. Carson City has agreed to a mutual aid agreement for the south part of Washoe Valley. Residents say the extra services are not worth the three minutes added to the average response time for much of Washoe Valley.
"I would like to keep the level of service out here," Moore said. "I think the people out here deserve it. Minutes do matter and that's what we've got. Basically, we count on the fire department."
The four busiest stations are in the North Valleys and Spanish Springs. Six of the county's 11 fire stations are south of Interstate 80 but about 75 percent of its calls come from north of the freeway.
"Not only are we behind the curve right now, we're going to be more behind the curve because most of our growth is going to occur in the north," Moore said. "We have more calls, we have more fires, we have more brush fires. We have more of everything in the north and we need to position ourselves to be able to respond to this."
Washoe Valley residents say they understand the need for more fire services in the North Valleys but that it should not come at their expense.
"They should not be allowing this without doing something like requiring those builders to build fire stations to service those people," Debbie Sheltra, Washoe Valley resident said. "Don't take it away from us to service new people that aren't even here yet."
Moore says the consolidation plan will help balance out where the fire stations are in relation to the population and the call volume. He says the move would help free up resources open a fire station in Lemmon Valley, converting a volunteer station in Silver Lake to a career station, and potentially another station on the I-80 corridor.
"We want to serve everybody in our district as equally as we can," Moore said. "So what we're really trying to do is put more resources up in the north where people have response times that are 15-20 minutes and that's not acceptable."
Moore says the two southern stations are aging and need repairs, pointing out that the Bower's Mansion station was built in 1950. He says building a brand new station would be more responsible than spending money to renovate the current buildings.
"If we do nothing, we would have to spend about $2 million more per year to add another career station in the north, when the consolidated station idea would only require $600,000 extra per year," Moore said.
He says despite the higher response times, it is still below the county's standard of cover. Residents say they are not asking for anything new. They just do not want to lose the services they already have.
"Consolidating, eliminating resources here is just a really bad move that leaves the valley very unprotected," Salyer said.
The Board of Fire Commissioners could make its final decision at Tuesday's 8:30 a.m. meeting.
