Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New unit takes some heat off overworked firetrucks

With the prospect of a new fire station in the northwest part of North Las Vegas years away, the fire department is pursing other options to cover the growing area.

The northwest is the most rapidly expanding area of North Las Vegas, with population more than doubling north of Alexander Road in the last 10 years.

Currently, only one fire station covers one-third of the city.

That station -- Station 54 on Ann Road and Camino Al Norte -- is responsible for more than half of the city's population in the northwest.

To help cover the areas and to decrease response times, the fire department has started using a new rescue rig to keep the firetruck from being tied up on non-fire-related calls.

While this is the first rescue rig of its type in the city, such rescue trucks are already being used in the city of Las Vegas and Clark County.

In the past the firetruck has gone out to every call that comes through the dispatcher -- fire emergency or not.

North Las Vegas Deputy Fire Chief Dale Nisson said 80 percent of calls are for emergency medical service, so it makes sense to use a rescue vehicle strictly for those calls instead of the firetruck.

"(The rescue rig) relieves the wear and tear on the firetruck and makes it more available for other types of responses," Nisson said. The rescue truck will be manned by two people, one who will always be a paramedic.

Las Vegas Deputy Chief Ken Riddle said the department has been using rescue vehicles since the 1970s, and they are becoming more common around the United States. Las Vegas currently has 11 rescue vehicles.

"The big advantage is where 75 percent of our calls are medical calls, this will allow us to send the rescue vehicle to medical calls and leave the engine available to respond to fire calls," he said.

While the rescue rig is a temporary fix, North Las Vegas Council members would prefer a more permanent one -- building a fifth fire station, Station 55, in the northwest. But because of financing, it will be at least two years away, officials say.

In the meantime the council is preparing to move Station 52, currently at Cheyenne Avenue and Civic Center Drive, to the northwest to share Station 54's load.

In two years residents could see the $3 million, 15,000-square-foot building up and running.

The city has already purchased the land at the northeast corner of Losee and Frehner roads. Station 52's current location will be sold and that money put toward the cost.

A portion of the new building will serve as a satellite facility for the maintenance operations division of the Public Works Department.

The remaining 9,500 square feet will house the fire station, which will include room for equipment, classroom space and living quarters for 10 people.

Fire Chief Robert Dodge told the council last week that he is in final negotiations with an architect and the project should go out to bid by August. It is estimated that it will take 18 months for final completion.

The prospect of a new fire station is years away, but the city has already mapped out a tentative location at the southwest corner of Washburn Road and Allen Lane near Theron H. Goynes Park.

The fire department was hoping to garner extra funds for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, to go toward a new station and applied for $4.3 million in supplemental requests over its regular budget.

The department was allocated only $571,700 of that total, which will fund a new fire engine, three sports utility vehicles and other equipment.

Nisson said Dodge is working with developers who would help build a fire station as part of their developments. He added that it could take two years to build a new station.

"(Chief Robert Dodge) has been working with developers and is about to finalize an agreement to build the skeleton of the station," he said.

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