Royal Ambulance, volunteer firefighters and Fire Adapted Nevada outline service and wildfire preparedness in Gerlach
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Summary
Royal Ambulance reported full staffing and a revised ambulance soon to be based in Gerlach; local volunteers said they are "signed off by Truckee Meadows" and described capabilities and limitations. Fire Adapted Nevada and Truckee Meadows Fire discussed community wildfire protection planning, defensible-space guidance and grant opportunities for fuel mitigation.
Public-safety presenters at the Gerlach CAB meeting described recent emergency response activity, volunteer fire capacity and county-level wildfire planning.
John Ray of Royal Ambulance said Royal has handled 10 incidents in the Gerlach area this year, with five releases and five ground transports, and that a revised, county-dedicated ambulance will be stationed in Gerlach once it clears state inspection. He scheduled an all‑day EMS training for March 25. "We're doing a training day for all of our EMS staff... that'll be on Wednesday, March 25," he said.
Volunteer fire representative Greg Nielsen announced that Gerlach volunteers are "officially in business," saying they are "signed off by Truckee Meadows," and explained what volunteers can and cannot do in operations: exterior firefighting, vehicle extrication and limited tasks until Truckee Meadows or additional resources arrive. "So we can respond to stuff... we can cut cars apart... We can spray fire on the outside and protect neighbors' homes," he said, while noting interior structural firefighting and full-house search and rescue are limited.
Fire Adapted Nevada coordinator Kelly Nevills and Brett Taylor of Truckee Meadows Fire outlined wildfire risk and mitigation work. Nevills emphasized home hardening and the "0 to 5 foot" vulnerability zone near structures and used video examples to show how quickly embers and poor defensible space can ignite homes. "That is where your home is most vulnerable, and that's where your defensible space comes in," she said. Taylor described the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) update process for Washoe County and said community assessments will inform mitigation priorities and grant applications.
Presenters also discussed funding and implementation: NDF and Truckee Meadows can help prepare grant applications and provide fuels crews to implement projects if grants are awarded; free defensible-space inspections are available. They described coordination needs when work affects federal land (BLM) and encouraged local input to shape grant proposals.
Next steps: Royal Ambulance to place the revised ambulance in Gerlach pending inspection; volunteer recruitment and training to continue; Washoe County/NDF/Truckee Meadows to pursue CWPP updates, community assessments and grant applications to fund mitigation work.
