City, CSN partner up to build new fire station

Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 | midnight

The city of Las Vegas and the College of Southern Nevada are entering into an agreement to build a new fire station on the college's Charleston Campus, near Rainbow and Charleston boulevards, to benefit both the city and the college.

For years Las Vegas Fire & Rescue looked for land near the college campus, where a new fire station is much needed, but could not find affordable land, said Las Vegas Fire Chief Greg Gammon during the Oct. 15 Las Vegas City Council meeting, when the agreement was approved.

But Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, who represents Ward 1, where the fire station will be built, came up with the solution of having a partnership between the city and the college.

The city will pay for the $7 million, 10,000-square-foot fire station and attached classroom space in exchange for land leased back to the city for no cost for 40 years. The land is owned by the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Money for the fire station has been set aside for years, so development of the CSN station will not be affected by this year's $41.7 million in city budget cuts, Gammon said. Also, no additional money will initially be spent on staff because existing Fire Station 6, which is about a mile away from the planned new station near Jones Boulevard and U.S. 95, will be temporarily shut down after the new station opens.

Fire Station 6 is old and in need of repairs, but in about five years the city hopes to have it up and running again, Gammon said.

"This new station isn't just to serve the college," Gammon said. "This is to serve the citizens in that part of Las Vegas."

Tim Szymanksi, spokesman for Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, said the new station will dramatically help the area that has grown in density because of apartment and business development and should improve the fire response time to six minutes in the area.

The site will provide hands-on training for CSN's fire science students and emergency medical technician students, while the fire department will also have access to the classroom space on weekends for training.

"Where else can you go where you can have your classroom attached to a fire station?" Gammon said. "It's a great project. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the city where a public fire station is on a public campus."

The Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education approved the lease in September. The project will most likely be completed within two years, but there is no final time line set yet, Gammon said.

The fire science degree is an Associate of Applied Science. There are several fire science degrees available at CSN including the Associate of Applied Science and Wildland Firefighting, Associate of Applied Science and Urban Firefighting and Associate of Applied Science of Fire Management. The management degree is for those already in fire service looking to grow in that field.

The degrees do not guarantee that the student will get a place with the fire department because of requirements like extensive background checks, but it is an advantage, said Bruce Evans, Fire Programs Coordinator for CSN.

The fire science program currently has classes at the college's Green Valley Tech Center. The new classrooms and station will service those in the fire science program who live in the northwest side of the valley.

The hands-on learning at the new facility will include providing opportunities for students to do the paramedic and firefighting internships at the new station.

Evans said he envisions that the internships will allow students to be the fifth person on the fire truck going out on call under supervision of the firefighters, but that still needs to be worked out.

The classes will include tactics and strategy and introduction to fire science. Not all of the courses that will be taught at the new facility have been decided, but Evans said he hopes some specialty training classes will be taught.

Evans said he also hopes that equipment for the Candidate Physical Ability Test, the fitness test firefighter candidates are required to pass, will be set up at the new facility. The college already owns the equipment, but it is stored in a warehouse.

"I'd like to have the test up permanently," Evans said.

The majority of instructors of the fire science program are firefighters who teach part time. At the new facility, the instructors will be closer and more available.

Because of budget cuts, Evans said CSN would have never been able to afford this type of facility without an agreement with the city.

"The city has been nothing but supportive in helping to give quality education," Evans said.

Evans added that no live fire training will be performed at the facility, so neighbors won't need to worry about massive smoke coming from the facility.

Jenny Davis can be reached at 990-8921 or jenny.davis@hbcpub.com.