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September 14, 2005
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES EMS director prepares disaster plan wish list
By PHILLIP GOMEZ
Jones was speaking about the Gulf Coast catastrophe from Hurricane Katrina in which thousands are reported perished and billions of dollars in property destroyed. The county's emergency services director said that within 60 days he would be presenting to the commissioners the county's latest emergency planning document addressing new federal requirements for emergency agencies. The revision will bring the county up to date "on what is expected," Jones said, giving him a gambit to renew his funding request for emergency fire and rescue services throughout the county at the tail end of one of the most destructive fire seasons in county history. In recent weeks Jones has been at odds with the commission over the state of emergency declared on June 10 when $750,000 was appropriated to meet the weed crisis and the danger it posed for wildfire. Jones has said that even though the summer fire danger has waned, an emergency nevertheless still exists in the county in terms of its chronic lack of preparedness for long-term fire prevention and suppression. "The emergency is not over," Jones insisted once again. "We've been very lucky. We've been very blessed." Grants are currently being looked to for emergency supplies, he said. "When catastrophes occur, the first thing to go down is communications," Jones said. Equipped with new radios having 200 channels, volunteer firefighters are now better able to coordinate their responses to emergencies. With grant funding, Jones wants to enable volunteers to have "trunking" capability like that currently available to Nye County dispatchers. The added feature would enhance their range of communication by radio. But Jones painted a dour picture of the many problems existing in the county with regard to its emergency communications system. Many radio repeaters don't work, and the town of Manhattan needs a new antenna, he said. "Nye County is vast ... and we have numerous communication needs," Jones said in a report he read aloud to commissioners. It has been so long since the repeater serving Gabbs has been maintained, he said, trees have grown up around it, enfeebling communication. Before assuming his new post as emergency services director in January, Jones was program coordinator for Nevada OSHA - the federal department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration. There he developed and directed two OSHA emergency response teams and handled all the budgetary, training, certification, grant writing, reports, plans and compliance regulations dealing with emergencies. Personnel needs present another problem area. Volunteers are difficult to attract, Jones said. He wants to pay them as an incentive for responding to fires. Another problem pertains to costly physical examinations for volunteer firefighters. "They're not being done," Jones said. The "low (county) rate" for physical exams is $400; the "high rate," which includes required EKG and treadmill tests, costs $600, he said. The approximate cost to conduct the exams for 100-plus volunteers comes to $60,000, and $15,000 per year for the next two years, he said. Background investigations are likewise not being conducted on volunteers, he said. Then Jones came to fire apparatus - engines, tenders and trucks, where the major expenses were to be found. He said he "had issues" with the commissioners over a lot of big semi-truck-trailer accidents occurring near Beatty. Water tenders were needed at that location, he said, though the commissioners have said they didn't think it was the responsibility of town fire departments to assist motorists by the side of the road. Beatty's water tender was the most often used for this function, Jones said. In Smoky Valley the water tender there needed replacing because it was broken down. Crystal's water tender "looks like it's from the 1950s and is sitting on its side." It needs replacing, too, he said. A used water tender with 18,000 miles on it was found for sale in Kansas, Jones said. The cost: $65,000. Jones said the emergency funding the commission provided earlier this summer should be mainly used for the acquisition of more tenders. The total cost for water tenders was $225,000, he added. Attack trucks are also needed. The trucks are vital for responding to roadway car fires and wildfires. Gabbs' attack vehicle has broken down, he said. "It was so old everything broke on it," Jones said. Gabbs has a desperate need for a four-wheel-drive truck with a water container, he said. Manhattan, also with a worn-out truck, needs a replacement. The cost: $10,000. Manhattan also needs a $45,000 attack vehicle, he added. The total cost for attack trucks comes to $75,000, Jones indicated. Belmont's fire station has no power. Jones wants to put in a solar-powered system costing $10,000. "It is extremely difficult to keep equipment charged and ready without power," he said. Other emergency needs are assessed in the eight-page report to the commissioners. Jones said he has spent $150,000 so far on emergency preparedness. He wanted authorization to spend more. The total bill would be $672,000, he said, with other costs covered by grant money. Training costs would fall under annual budget appropriations. "Are we able to address all of these needs I've brought forward?" he asked the commissioners. "You wanted to know what we needed. ... I am here to do your will. ... I think those items I've addressed right now are critical. We do have a golden opportunity before us to solve all these problems." Commission Chairwoman Candice Trummell, who voted against the declaration of emergency in the first place, said she thought the amount requested was too much and "might come back up in our audit." Trummell said she wanted to see the items requested dealt with piecemeal as agenda items, although she also said she didn't disagree with any of Jones' recommendations. It should also be noted that Trummell voted against the declaration of an emergency at the June 10 meeting not because she didn't believe the fire risk was real, but that there were other avenues the county could take to mitigate the danger. Commissioner Joni Eastley said she agreed with Trummell at the most recent meeting. Commissioner Gary Hollis said he first wanted to see the new emergency plan Jones was preparing, and agreed with waiting before making any decisions on expenditures. Commissioner Patricia Cox said she hasn't seen a breakdown of the costs, agreeing with the others. The board asked Jones to include his requests as action items on a future commission agenda along with a list of expenditures already made. |
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