Washoe County ready for New Year’s Eve

Monday, Dec. 27, 1999 | 9:29 a.m.

Unless Reno has a riot or a major blackout, Washoe County Emergency Management Director Press Clewe said he suspects the biggest problem could be the phone system. If everyone picks up the phone at midnight to see about a dial tone, it could jam up the phone lines, making it difficult for 911 calls to get through.

For that reason, emergency officials are asking that calls to friends and relatives to be made at some time other than midnight Friday.

More than 50 people representing police, fire, public works, utilities, phones, hospitals and computer technology will be working in Washoe County's emergency center in the county administration building. Reno and Washoe County police also will have mobile command posts.

Reno-Tahoe International Airport also has an emergency command set up, with about a dozen officials expected to man it.

Fifteen to 20 officials will be in Carson City at the state emergency command center, just down the hall from the Nevada National Guard emergency center. Troops and equipment will be on standby throughout the state. The National Guard, state and county emergency centers will be standing by to assist local governments if they run into trouble.

"We feel we have taken a reasonable course of action," Clewe said. "We have dissected it and pulled it apart in every way. We are prepared if something goes wrong."

With this New Year's Eve, government officials must be ready for whatever happens.

That could range from crowd control at Reno, Stateline and Las Vegas for the biggest New Year's Eve party in possibly a thousand years, to possible brownouts or phone troubles.

Reno police will be ready for any disturbances downtown, with backup from Washoe County and Sparks as needed. Also, the Red Cross has made arrangements to open a school as an emergency shelter if that became necessary.

Hospitals and ambulance services are staffing their emergency rooms for a big night, so beds are available no matter where trouble occurs.

National Guard spokeswoman Cindy Kirkland said about 500 Army and Air Guardsmen will be on duty throughout Nevada on New Year's weekend, including more than 250 in Reno.

The weekend has been scheduled as the monthly training session. The Guard will have helicopters, airplanes, trucks and riot gear ready to go. Giant water tanks and generators loaded on trucks also will be ready to roll.

Guard headquarters in Carson City will serve as the command post for a high-frequency radio network serving the Guard in the West, Kirkland said. Reports from throughout the West, including Guam, Alaska and Hawaii, will be sent to Carson City and then forwarded to Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Adam Mayberry, spokesman for Reno-Tahoe Airport, said he doesn't expect many problems. But just in case, the airport's police force will all be at work.

As usual, anyone who spots a suspicious package or unattended luggage should immediately pick up a white phone to call security. And he emphasized that it's no time to crack any jokes about baggage at the security checkpoints.

"Security is by no means a laughing matter," Mayberry said.