2-person fire station in South Tahoe may temporarily close
By Kathryn Reed
Fire station No. 2 has been the subject of conversations for years because it’s so old (circa 1940s when it was part of the Lake Valley Fire Department) and inadequate.
A proposal being floated is to test closing the station for five days. At any given time only two people staff the building that is located on Highway 50 across from South Tahoe Middle School. An engineer and captain are there.
Under the plan South Lake Tahoe Fire Chief Brian Uhler is contemplating the captain would go to Station 3 (by the Y) and the engineer to Station 1 (at Ski Run Boulevard-Pioneer Trail). Stations 1 and 3 have four people now.
South Lake Tahoe fire Station 2 may be closed on a trial basis. Photo/LTN file
By having two captains in one station, one would be in charge of the rig, the other the whole city.
When the three division chief positions were eliminated late last year it created a scenario where the incident commander is also in charge of an engine. This does not create an effective, safe way to handle emergency calls.
Uhler relayed how last week Engine 3 went to a rescue off Highway 89. The crew hiked in about 1.5 miles and lost radio contact. The shift commander was supposed to be in overall command of the city and he was out of reach.
Uhler is in consultations with staff to see if moving out of Station 2 would be worth the experiment. Debriefing afterward would determine if this would be something worth doing on a long-term basis.
“Response time will suffer in the sense of getting an engine on the scene,” Uhler told Lake Tahoe News if staffing is eliminated at Station 2.
As it is, one engine with two guys can’t do much other than put out a trash can fire, lay lines and wait for others to arrive, so Uhler doesn’t see the change hindering the ability to put out a fire. Ambulance service does not change if staffing at Station 2 changes.
In 2009, former Fire Chief Lorenzo Gigliotti talked about getting rid of that station and building a facility at Lake Tahoe Community College. That concept is back on the table as the college looks for ways to expand its programs.
With new leadership at the college, the city and elsewhere, the reality of creating a training facility is more likely.
In 2009, then LTCC President Paul Killpatrick told this reporter he was concerned about having a training facility on campus because it is surrounded by forest.
Having a station at the college off Al Tahoe Boulevard would put firefighters in the same area they are now.
Problems with the current Station 2 include vehicle storage issues, no accessibility for the disabled, a dangerous situation for emergency vehicles to merge into traffic on Highway 50, conditions are lousy and modernization is out of the question.
Uhler expects to decide next week if he is going to do the trial closure at Station 2.
What is going on with the consolidation with Lake Valley???
Ted Long wrote an article recently in the Tahoe mountain news about consolidating more than the fire department into other government entities.
This Aug. 9 story on LTN is about potential consolidation: https://www.laketahoenews.net/2012/08/movement-to-blend-s-tahoe-lake-valley-fire-departments/
This is what Ted Long wrote in June for LTN: https://www.laketahoenews.net/2012/06/opinion-time-to-rethink-how-government-works/
Kathryn Reed, LTN publisher
If modernization is out of the question, what would become of the original site.. modernize the original site with out it being a fire station.. more uninhabited 2-lot mansions, just what we need..
Station 2 is the only station that can park the ladder truck, so if you need a ladder truck the guys would have to go to the closed station open it up, hope the ladder truck starts then go to the fire. What is the response time for that?
Also your fire insurance company will have the right to charge more for your fire insurance in the heart of this town because response time is more. Do not close this down until a new one is built at the college. I think this is a major public safety issue. Two firemen can still show up and save a life!!
Good idea – let the Police Adminstrator make decisions regarding fire station staffing, fire/medical public safety issues and FF safety issues.
Response time to the Al Tahoe area on medical aids will be greatly increased. Wouldn’t you want a trained professional on scene quicker if you or one of yours were in cardiac arrest? This will require adjoining agencies to do more mutual aid responses thus leaving their assigned jurisdictions short of resources. Let’s see how long they agree to do that.
Another great decision by the “Chief(?)”, “City Manager(?)” and the City Council,,,
Why would the handicapped need access to a fire station? Also a blinking traffic light would take care of HWY 50 traffic. Sure looks like an ambulance and truck fit through the doors today. Is there a reason taxpayer dollars need to be wasted or spent when gov’t gets bored with a location? We’re in a recession, in a broke town with no idea how to jump start the economy. You have holes in the ground, a casino district who wants SLT to invest in putting a driveway to their backdoor, and now a fire station to be built at the college. What a bunch of dreamers! Or should I say idiots.
All the engines in south lake are 2 man staffing. It’s just at stations 1 and 3 there is an ambulance with 2 persons on it to cross staff the engine on fire type calls. If that medic is transporting to the hospital, that engine only has 2 man staffing. The same number of calls are going to be run but instead of 3 engines, it will be divided by 2. Station 1 will have 3 man staffing with two drivers and a captain along with two medics. Will an engineer position be demoted to firefighter? For my property tax dollars, I would prefer station 2 to stay in open. Faster response times to calls and insurance rating will not change. Also a 3rd engine carries more than manpower, it carries 500 gallons of water and equipment With 2 engines, south lake Tahoe is a traffic accident and medical aid away from depleting all available rigs in the city and having to rely on mutual aid. Sltfd is already running short, blacking out a rig is not the answer.
Imagine the CPR call at Embassy Suites. 4 people will respond (Eng 1 / Med 1)and the second fire engine to come to help will be coming from the Y (Eng 3 w/2 people). This would then leave 1 ambulance crew (no fire) to “cover” the entire city! Then, a wildland fire call comes in off Venice.
Very scary scenario.
Those 2 people at Sta 2 make a world of difference in keeping it all afloat even with below standard staffing currently in place.
Keep station No.2 open and fully staffed! That station is centraly located and is the closest to the Al Tahoe neighborhood..
I don’t know Chief Uhler but It seems to me he’s been loaded up with too much stuff. Hire a Fire Capt., and leave Uhler to run the SLTPD.
Old Long Skiis
Station 2 is very busy. I work near the station and see them heading out, lights and sirens, a couple of times a day. Closing it would mean less coverage in the city and mentioned above. Keep it open!
…..as mentioned above. (forgot to proofread :-))
I agree with the above comments. Station 2 seems to run fine, gets out into the traffic ok. Station 3 has the same traffic problem. It just makes sense to have a staffed fire station in the middle of town. This way the city is covered, and lot lacking in response time.