Requested by the Nevada Division of Forestry, this action provides a single point of dispatch for residents within NDF's Sierra Forest Fire protection district in Verdi, Galena and West Washoe Valley and the emergency services providers that serve those areas through Reno's Regional Emergency Communications Center.
The Nevada Division of Forestry will pay $470,000.00 during the contract extension period. The initial agreement approved by the Council April 13, was sought by the Reno Fire Department and NDF to reduce the time between the initial call for service and the arrival of emergency personnel to those areas in the NDF fire district. Such delays are related to NDF 9-1-1 emergency telephone calls for those areas that currently cannot be routed directly to NDF dispatchers at the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center at the Douglas County Airport in Minden. Because the Reno area 9-1-1 emergency telephone system services emergency calls for Reno's police and fire departments and the Washoe County Sheriff's Department in the same general areas, calls have to be transferred from the Reno Regional Emergency Communications Center to the Minden site often causing a delay.
With Reno handling all risk communications for NDF not only will time be saved, but the closest available emergency responder will be dispatched to the emergency regardless of jurisdiction.
The extension of the dispatch services agreement for NDF is not expected to significantly impact the operations at the Reno Regional Emergency Communications Center that already handles about 27,500 Reno Fire Department related calls annually. NDF has a projected annual call volume of about 900 calls.
