Meetings this week to discuss new fire protection district, four districts seek to merge

January 9, 2023January 17, 2023 Editor

Residents in Eastern Plumas are invited to learn more about how merging four fire protection districts into one entity will impact them. The Local Emergency Services Study Group (LESSG) is hosting two workshops at the end of this week to introduce the proposed new fire protection district: Beckwourth Peak Fire Protection District. Meetings will be held Friday, Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Grange Hall in Vinton and Saturday, Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. at the Memorial Hall in Portola.

Background

In January 2020, the Local Emergency Services Study Group (LESSG) was formed with the goal of exploring ways to combine efforts to strengthen and improve fire protection, rescue and emergency medical services (EMS) in Eastern Plumas County. The LESSG consists of representatives from Sierra Valley Fire, Beckwourth Fire, City of Portola, and Gold Mountain CSD. LESSG participants collectively agreed to the development of a feasibility study to explore solutions to best fulfill fire, rescue and EMS needs. The study demonstrated that there would be benefits to consolidate and form one new fire protection district (FPD) with coordinated divisions representing each existing station to serve the Eastern Plumas communities*:

One new Fire Protection District with clear boundaries
Efficient use of resources to better serve communities with fire, rescue and emergency medical services
Combine existing equipment, infrastructure, and resources
Coordinated training and response among divisions
Mix of part time and full time staff and volunteers
Only one Board of Directors

The proposed new Beckwourth Peak Fire Protection District would be funded via three main funding mechanisms: