Renault, sparks, vote by Washo County for pursuit of a fire regionalization, better mutual assistance – KRNV

Reno, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) – The Reno and Sparks Municipal Councils and the Washoe County Commission voted on Thursday to continue regional fire services at Truckee Meadows, including a study of variants such as better mutual assistance and possible consolidation.

In a rare joint meeting, the three tips unanimously directed the district managers and the city to return with details about the possible steps next month.

It comes against the backdrop of the growing fears of devastating fires – recently emphasized by Davis’s fire last year and fires in Los Angeles last month – with several selected employees claiming that the regional fire service will be better prepared to cope with a catastrophic flame.

One solution described as “low pending fruits” will be the application of the so-called unlimited mutual assistance, which would be wider than the recently approved mutual assistance agreement that came into force last year.

Unlimited mutual assistance, said firefighters, will mean that the closest fire machine, regardless of agency or jurisdiction, will automatically respond to emergency.

Renault Dave Co-‘s fire chief told reporters that agencies were already moving to a shared sending system in September and said it was their purpose to apply unlimited mutual assistance at the same time.

One step further than shared sending is the central dispatch, with regional dispatchers unfolding any resource, regardless of the agency.

The largest stage of regionalization would be the consolidation or unification of the 3 local fire agencies into one, a decision that CoPny said he supported. He described it as a “gold standard” and “ultimate goal”.

Ever since I started in this job, I have been 100% in support.

“I worked as a firefighter when we were consolidated. It was very effective. It was the best service we could provide to the region. I would like to see us back to it,” he said.

This decision comes with many challenges, including funding and management that some selected employees gathered on Thursday.

“Financing is a huge question. How do we finance it?” He was considering the advice of Sparks Charlene Babi’s advice. “If we get together as one, who is responsible? Is this a united command?”

The possible funding mechanisms floating from the State Senator Skip Daly, which sponsors a bill to regional fire in the legislation of Nevada, included the cancellation of the ownership tax, which may require a matter for an advisory newsletter.

The mayor of sparks Ed Loson said that the Northern Nevada officials would have to convince governor Joe Lombardo that the efforts were worth it because it could require a new tax.

“This is directly against one of his new taxes,” Loson said. “This is something we think is good for our region, it will improve the results. Do we need 15 battalion chiefs? We probably have some efficiency there. We will definitely not need 3 firefighters.”

Renault Hillary Sheve Mayor said the price was worth it, especially when considering the economic fee for a catastrophic explosion. She said the price of Los Angeles fires would exceed $ 250 billion.

If we do not invest in safety, we will pay for the infrastructure at the back. Do not drink yourself.

The officials directed the district and the city managers to explore specifics and to return to them in the next month with more details. One possible first step will be to put into operation an independent study of third parties, which will explore the pros, cons and costs for different solutions.

Watch the meeting here:

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