Nine fire agencies from four Nevada counties and one California county have agreed to adopt and implement a standardized apparatus and station identification system.  Fire agencies from Douglas, Carson, Lyon, and Storey counties in Nevada, and Alpine County in California, will be implementing the new system starting October 1st, 2011.  Chiefs from the participating agencies realized the value of having one system for the numbering of fire stations and apparatus, even though they are all dispatched from separate dispatch centers. Currently each agency has its own numbering system creating conflicts with duplicated apparatus and personnel numbering on incidents where regional support and cooperation is essential.  Carson City Fire Chief Stacey Giomi developed the system, which provides each agency with a master number as the primary agency identifier.  Other numbers identify the apparatus and personnel. The group also agreed on common apparatus terminology, whereby apparatus of the same type will be referred to with the same name for that type.  Currently, the regional agencies have three different terms to identify an ambulance.  Under the new system, an ambulance is now known as a “Rescue” in all participating jurisdictions.

District Fire Chief Tod Carlini, from the East Fork Fire and Paramedic Districts in Douglas County, stated “While this may seem like a simple step to take, it breaks with what we have been doing for at least the past thirty-plus years I have been in the fire service.   With the current state of our economy, moving in a direction which attempts to maximize our efforts and funding on a regional basis makes sense.”  He praised the efforts and the spirit of cooperation that exists between the agencies represented.  Carlini went on to say, “There is not a single agency which can muster the necessary resources to deal with a significant large event, and in some cases even the day to day responses that we all encounter.  Mutual support is essential. The new numbering system is just one more way we have found to cooperate on a regional basis”.

Carson City Fire Chief Stacey Giomi added “This step opens the door for continued cooperation by the regional fire agencie. We are continually looking for ways to improve service delivery and save money.  A regional fire dispatch center is the ultimate goal.  Collectively, we are pursuing grants to see if we can obtain funding to develop a regional center.”

Both Carlini and Giomi were instrumental in the creation of a formal “boundary drop zone” between their two jurisdictions which earned the Nevada Taxpayers Association’s Cashman Good Government Award in 2007, and continues to save an estimated $500,000 per year in duplicated resources.

The new system will go into effect on October 1, 2011 once all dispatch centers have had time to make the necessary adjustments in their computer aided dispatching systems.

The nine agencies participating include:

Douglas County

            East Fork Fire and Paramedic Districts

            Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District

Carson City

            Carson City Fire Department

Lyon County

            Central Lyon County Fire Protection District

            Mason Valley Fire Protection District

            North Lyon County Fire Protection District

            Smith Valley Fire Protection District

Storey County

            Storey County Fire Department

Alpine County, California

            Eastern Alpine County Fire Department