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Washoe Valley Fire/EMS protection
A citizen/taxpayer perspective
by Thomas Daly M.A., MSc.
Historically, Washoe Valley has been served by two career staffed fire stations, the Sierra Fire Protection District (SFPD) Station #30 in West Washoe and the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District (TMFPD) Station #32 in Eastlake. After the 2014 merger of these two Districts, the same two stations were operated by the TMFPD.
Station 32 Eastlake, owned by TMFPD near the top of Eastlake Blvd, primarily served East Washoe Valley (population about 3000) with an engine crew of 3 with one or more being a paramedic. The station housed a Type I structure engine, a Type III brush engine and a water tender, as most properties in Washoe Valley lack a municipal water system.
Station 30 Bowers, on Old 395 adjacent to Bowers Mansion Regional Park in a building leased from the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF), primarily served West Washoe Valley (population about 1200), with a crew of three, also with one or more paramedics and with one Type I structure engine, one Type III brush engine and a water tender.
The standard response to wildland and structure fires for the TMFPD is four engines.
TMFPD Station #39 Joy Lake, while appearing close by, is constrained by a circuitous running route through multiple gates in St. James Village, thus with long (>12 mins.) response times to the Valley.
Carson City Station 52 Airport (not shown) at the north end of Carson City also responds on automatic aid to all wildland and structure fires in Washoe Valley, but also with long response times.
For both stations #30 and #32 about 80% of all calls have been for emergency medical services (EMS). While both stations responded to a small number of fire calls, Washoe Valley has been the victim of major wildfires (Washoe Drive wildfire 2012, Little Valley wildfire 2016 and the Davis wildfire 2024), destroying dozens of homes, out buildings, taking one life, while decimating more than 11,000 acres, collectively, of habitat.
Thus, having two stations for this sixty-six square mile Valley separated by Washoe Lake is justified by the Valley’s high wildfire risk and long distances for neighboring stations, including Station #39 Joy Lake and Carson City #52, to travel, if needed to assist.
‘The community’s risk designations should influence how response resources are distributed now and in the future. Staffing and deployment decisions for different regions of the service area should be made in consideration of the level of risk.’
--Regional Standards of Cover Plan – Washoe County Nevada 2011 ESCI Report
In 2020, then Fire Chief Moore proposed a consolidated (32+30) station at White Pelican Way at the far north end of West Washoe Valley. Land (about 5 acres) was purchased for about $500K. The station’s design was to mimic the 2016 vintage station on Foothill Road, cost then about $6.5 million, and then the same planned design for Station 35 on I-80 East, whose cost, post-COVID, ballooned to $16.5 million by 2025.
The then TMFPD Board of Fire Commissioners (BoFC) approved the land purchase and consolidation plan in January 2020, but with a stipulation that Station 30 not be closed until the new consolidated station was up and running.
In August 2022 Chief Moore, citing a bat infestation at Station 30 that, allegedly, was too expensive to remediate, initiated an emergency closure of the station, despite no progress identifying funding for construction of the new consolidated station nor providing a timeline for same. The BoFC concurred and, despite the earlier commitment not to do so, the station was closed and the lease was terminated in November 2022.
Despite the seemingly unsolvable bat issue, subsequently the NDF, for only $150K, eradicated the bat problem and re-opened the station in 2023 for administrative purposes (generally daytime) and for its seasonal fire crews (including overnight uses). Those NDF crews, however, do not respond to structure fires or EMS calls, only wildfires.
In 2022, Station 32 Eastlake would receive an additional two-person crew to staff Medic 32 which, under an agreement with REMSA, could both treat and transport, patients given REMSA’s lack of resources outside of the McCarran Loop.
Washoe Valley response times, (dispatch time + turnout time + travel time) from TMFPD Station 32 Eastlake, are excessive, i.e., greater than 9 minutes to the south end of East Washoe Valley and mid-West Washoe (~9 mins) and to the south end of West Washoe Valley (~12 mins), see example below from Station 32 (A) to Lightning W Ranch Road (B).
TMFPD Station #32 Eastlake total response time = 11 min 50 seconds to Lightning W Ranch Road
Continuing to use the outdated 2011 (a promised 2024 update never occurred) ‘Standards of Cover’ report by ESCI, subsequently approved by the BoFC, which established response times of 20 minutes 85% of the time for rural areas, assures catastrophic outcomes for Washoe Valley residents and taxpayers will continue.
The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that for heart attacks or strokes, intervention by qualified personnel needs to occur in less than 7 minutes to avoid a catastrophic outcome (death). The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) likewise estimates that intervention by qualified personnel needs to occur in less than 7 minutes for structure fires to avoid flashover. The recent Ormsby Lane structure fire near the south end of New Washoe City (East side) proved the point, as TM#32’s crews arrived from quarters at 8 mins+ only to find the house fully involved in flames and a total loss.
April 6, 2026 Ormsby Lane East Washoe Valley fire
Current TMFPD management and the BoFC have, thus far, remain committed to the Don Quixote like pursuit of funding for the consolidated station, with a cost estimate now approaching $20 million. There are no construction/operations timeline and the station’s design is far larger than needed. The station’s proposed location is ill-positioned to provide prompt response times to significant portions of Washoe Valley. All sources of public and private funding, including a recent request to the Nevada State Infrastructure Bank (SIB), have been pursued, to no avail.
The consolidated station concept is the quintessential impossible dream.
Tens of millions of dollars of fire tax have been paid by Valley residents since 2022 for ineffective protection.
An Alternative Solution
An alternative solution is available and has already been successful in nearby Hidden Valley. There, a former volunteer station was rehabilitated and added to with a manufactured home serving as crew quarters, becoming TMFPD Station #37. That affordable solution was in place for 12 years, from 2012-2024, when permanent financing (15yr low-interest loan) became available for a permanent new apparatus building and a renovated home for crew quarters.
That solution would work as well for Washoe Valley. Sell the Pelican Way land and use the proceeds to support the cost for a lease or purchase of the state-owned volunteer station #300 at 345 Bellevue Road (annual lease cost ~$7K) and part of the re-habilitation cost, estimated at $1 million. Add a manufactured home for the crew quarters (estimate ~$175K) and move the Medic 32 crew there. Add three Captains for staffing, which could be done, partially funded for three years, with a matching SAFER grant starting in FY28.
Both sides of the Valley would then have timely paramedic emergency medical and fire services for a fraction of the $20 million+ cost of the ill-conceived consolidated station.
Response times to both sides of the Valley would be dramatically improved given Station 300’s location adjacent to I-580 and via the south end of Eastlake Blvd.
The 42% increase in TMFPD’s call volume in 2025 over 2024, the addition of new Station 35 and its staffing costs, along with significant increases in workers’ compensation costs and state imposed retirement benefits (PERS) confirms the need for additional revenue to maintain existing levels of service and to marginally improve response times.
A small, about $0.05/$100AV, increase in the now $0.54/$100AV TMFPD fire tax, would be sufficient to underwrite this Station 300 alternative, with an estimated impact on the average District property owner of less than $100 per year.
The TMFPD fire tax was last increased in 2012 ($0.42/$100AV to $0.52/$100AV) when the SFPD and TMFPD were consolidated, with an increase to $0.54/$100AV in 2014 to support the expanded department, with advanced life support (paramedic) services added to all stations. Nonetheless, TMFPD’s tax burden remains well below that of Washoe County’s other fire protection district, the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District (NLTFPD), whose fire tax is $0.67/$100AV.
This small increase in the fire tax would be preferable to the long-term debt payments for a District with too much debt today.
It is time for a new approach to this public safety challenge.
Thomas Daly is a resident of Washoe County and is a former Washoe County Planning Commissioner.
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