Residents urge immediate restoration of fire services in West Washoe Valley after Station 30 closure

Dozens of residents of West Washoe Valley pressed the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Board of Fire Commissioners on July 1 for a prompt restoration of local career fire and emergency medical services after the district closed Station 30 in August 2022.

Speakers at the public-comment portion of the July 1 meeting urged the board to either reopen or retrofit the volunteer Bellevue Road station (Station 301) for career staffing or to build the previously promised consolidated station within 90 days. Many described long response times and recent wildfire losses when Station 30 was unavailable.

Why it matters: Residents said the closure has left the West Washoe Valley exposed to slower response times for both structure fires and life‑threatening medical calls, and they tied the lack of a staffed station to the damage in recent wildfires including the Davis and Davis Creek incidents. Several asked commissioners to use contingency funds, sell surplus land, or pursue federal grants to accelerate a local solution.

At the meeting, Tom Daley of West Washoe urged the board to sell the site bought five years ago for a consolidated station and to use roughly $500,000 to stand up Station 301 with a manufactured crew housing unit, furnishings and utilities. Daley asked that staff return with competing estimates at the board’s September meeting. Multiple other commenters echoed that proposal and requested the district apply for a SAFER grant to fund three years of staffing.

Several speakers gave personal accounts of delayed emergency responses and wildfire damage. Barbara Batza, Mark Batza and Robin Leach each said they now face response times “more than twice the national average” and requested immediate action to equip Bellevue Road as a Truckee Meadows career station. William Naylor and Cliff Lowe described recurring wildfire risk, limited water infrastructure, and evacuation bottlenecks during the Davis Creek fire.

Commissioners responded that the issue is a districtwide priority and that multiple options are under discussion. Commissioner Clark said he has pressed for updates for more than two years and requested a concrete action item for the September meeting to discuss interim options for Bellevue station refurbishment. Vice Chair Jean Herman and other commissioners noted the complexity of financing and ownership—some speakers said the station building is owned by volunteers while the land is state-owned—and urged careful but expedited work.

What was requested and what’s next: Several residents formally requested the board either (a) break ground on the consolidated station within 90 days or (b) immediately equip Station 301 at Bellevue Road as a staffed Truckee Meadows career station. Tom Daley asked that the board direct Chief Edwards to return competing cost and timeline estimates by the September meeting. Multiple commissioners expressed support for agendizing a staff report in September; Commissioner Clark requested an action item for September 2 regarding refurbishing or retrofitting Bellevue as a temporary fix.

What the district has said: Commenters said a prior plan to replace Stations 30 and 32 with a consolidated station was halted, citing lack of funding and prior decisions. Several residents blamed the closure on bed‑infestation remediation decisions and on prior leadership choices; the board acknowledged prior votes and said discussions with state and federal funding partners had been underway before the previous chief’s departure.

Ending: The board did not adopt a formal motion during the public‑comment period to commit funds. Multiple residents and commissioners asked staff to provide a written report and cost estimates at the September meeting so the board can consider possible interim and long‑term solutions.