The White Pine County Commission is looking at options to form a county fire district that would not be under the auspices of the state.

At least two issues that surfaced this year put the current fire district that is managed by the Nevada Division of Forestry under local scrutiny.

Those issues include slow repairs to trucks and equipment by state NDF mechanics and the state firing of a well-respected battalion chief.

The county is likely to seek a proposal from Mary Walker & Associates of Minden to do an analysis for a new fire district. Walker has done in several similar analyses in rural Nevada counties. On Jan. 9, the commission will consider entering into a contract with Walker.

A new fire district would transfer the control of the district to local officials. The county would no longer pay the NDF for services. Instead, the money would go to individual departments to help with repairs. The existing fire departments would remain intact, each with its own chief. Those department are Baker, Ely, Lackawanna, Lund, McGill and Ruth.

Nevada statutes permit counties to form locally controlled fire districts that are not governed by the state.

If White Pine County opts for that option, the county would have to pick up the costs of repairs to equipment.

“The money they're now paying out to the state could be given to the fire departments,” County Clerk Donna Bath said.

A possible downside is that 97 percent of White Pine County's approximately 10,000 acres is federal land. Bath said there is concern that if a fire starts on private property and spreads to federal Bureau of Land Management land, BLM could charge the county or the private land owner for fire fighting services. She said that Lincoln County has a locally controlled fire district and an agreement with BLM. Calls seeking information from Lincoln County were not returned.

“White Pine County is looking to get away from the NDF,” Ely Fire Chief Ross Riviera told the Ely City Council on Dec. 13.

Later he said, “I think it (the proposal) opened up the eyes of the (county) commission and the people. Nobody pays attention to the volunteers.”

The Ely department has four paid professional firefighters, including Riviera. The remainder of the department is comprised of volunteers. The other departments in the county are volunteer.

“Our fire department will always support the outlying communities like we have in the past,” Riviera said.

An emotional issue with chiefs and volunteer firefighters countywide is the firing of Battalion Chief David Hendrix by the NDF in August.

“We had a battalion chief everybody liked, so when they fired him, the fire chiefs got furious,” Bath said.

Of Hendrix service as battalion chief, Riviera said, “I had good communication with him. He was good to work with.” An attempt to reach Hendrix for comment was unsuccessful.

The county was kept in the dark about the reason Hendrix was terminated. The NDF called it a personnel matter.

During the county commission meeting on Dec. 12, Commissioner Brent Eldridge told Tom Turk, the NDF's Northern Division forester, “We want to be included in personnel and equipment matters.”