East Fork Fire celebrates 40 years

Today, the East Fork Fire Protection District will be recognized for its 40 years serving Douglas County. The district provides fire and medical services to all of Douglas County outside the Lake Tahoe Basin. According to a proclamation before Douglas County commissioners, the district began operations on May 7, 1981. When the district was first proposed there were only three paid employees, including the chief. Gardnerville had its own fire department that for many years also served as the town government. The rest of the heavy lifting in the East Fork Township was done by eight volunteer departments, which included Genoa, Fish Springs, Topaz Ranch Estates, Topaz Lake, Sheridan Acres, Johnson Lane, the Gardnerville Ranchos and Minden’s Douglas County Engine Co. No. 1. Gardnerville would not join the district until eight years later in 1989. Before the district was created, Douglas County had funded fire protection through its general property tax rate, but the 1979 Legislature changed the tax rules, leaving the county looking for a way to deal continue funding firefighter. The same month the district was approved, Douglas County Fire Chief Dar Ellis turned in his resignation. “All his efforts toward improving fire protection are, to a great extent, the reason for creation of an East Fork Fire Protection District in the Valley,” then County Manager Bob Hadfield said. Ellis had served as a volunteer in Minden since the 1930s and was hired as the first Douglas County Fire Chief effective July 1, 1966. Ellis operated the family grocery store in Minden and had served as chief of the Minden volunteers for 11 years. By the time he was appointed chief, he’d been donning turnouts since not long after he’d graduated from Douglas County High School in 1935. Chief Bill Driscoll, who is a real estate agent in Douglas County, followed Ellis and brought the district into the modern era before he retired in 1995. Driscoll was followed by Jim Reinhart, who served from 1996 to 2000, and present Chief Tod Carlini who has served since 2001. It has been five years since county commissioners approved establishing a separate board for the fire district. The new board took office Jan. 4, 2017 and consists of Barbara Griffin, Bernie Curtis, John Bellona, Jacques Etchgoyhen and Mike Sommers. The district board is elected and has an independent tax rate that funds firefighting. It also oversees the district’s ambulance service.