Firefighters in Nye County, Nevada, will have advanced new equipment to combat fires thanks to grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management Nevada Program.
Office of Environmental Management
August 27, 2024
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Patrick Lazenby of Nye County Emergency Management directs a plume of water combined with F-500 solution from a newly purchased trailer. The trailer and solution were secured by the rural Nevada county using grant money provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management Nevada Program.
LAS VEGAS — Firefighters in Nye County, Nevada, will have advanced new equipment to combat fires thanks to grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management (EM) Nevada Program.
The Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG) grant has delivered over $16.3 million in funds to counties near the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) since 2000.
“We talk a lot about how fortunate we are to have these grants because it allows us to meet our objectives and ensure a safe environment,” said Scott Lewis, Nye County director of emergency management and Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue chief.
Nye County is a mostly rural county that encompasses the NNSS and is located about an hour's drive from Las Vegas. The county recently used grant money to purchase a fire suppression agent known as F-500. It is a solution that combines with water to more effectively quench flames. The F-500 agent is similar in appearance to previously used foaming agents, but it offers a host of benefits. One immediate advantage in the desert climate of Nye County is less water usage.
A look at one of the F-500 trailers, left, and the portable container packs, right.
First responders from across Nye County, including representatives of the Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue, Beatty Volunteer Fire, Tonopah Volunteer Fire, and the Nye County Department of Emergency Management, gathered this summer for an education session held at the Pahrump Valley fire station.
“Our goal, because we don’t have a lot of water available to use on the highways, was to minimize the water aspect and ascertain a product that would allow us to best maximize our suppression efforts,” Lewis said.
Another critical benefit of F-500 is improved safety for firefighters. Previous versions of firefighting foams have been known to contain carcinogenic fluorides and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. The F-500 agent does not contain PFAS. It is fluorine free, noncorrosive and biodegradable.
“Some of the components built into previous foams have been found to be cancerous,” Lewis said. “So, we were looking for a different option, something that we would be able to utilize on our major transportation corridors as well as our local fires where there are severe events.”
F-500 also reduces firefighter exposure to heat, decreases contact with soot and smoke, and can combat all types of fires, including lithium-ion battery fires.
At left, a Pahrump firefighter practices using a small dose of the F-500 material. At right, classroom training was held at the Pahrump Valley fire station.
After the classroom session, firefighters took the equipment to a nearby training ground to test the F-500 and learn how to use it in a controlled setting. The F-500 material and training sessions were funded through the EPWG grant. Additional purchases of F-500 will use those funds as well. The county purchased two large trailers that can hold the solution and deploy it when equipped with a delivery mechanism. One trailer will be stationed in southern Nye County and the other in northern Nye County. They also obtained a set of smaller portable containers.
"Everything is in support of community, safety and community service,” Lewis said.
For the six rural Nevada counties that participate, the EPWG grant is a vital means for adequately supplying emergency response teams with the resources they need. Esmeralda County, which has a population of less than 1,000, purchased a fire engine this year with EPWG funds. The engine is designed to be a multifaceted response vehicle and is equipped with radiological monitoring equipment. It will be used throughout the county and along Highway 95, where it can offer mutual aid to Nye County.
“These funds, for a very small county, go a very long way,” said Paul Melendrez, coordinator for the Esmeralda County Department of Emergency Management. “The majority of what we do is funded by the EPWG grant.”
A look at the Esmeralda County ambulance and fire engine purchased using Emergency Preparedness Working Group funds.
Esmeralda County used grant money to help with the purchase of an ambulance in 2022. The vehicle is equipped with four-wheel drive, which is a necessity when navigating desert terrain. The county uses EPWG funds to support equipment, training and personnel. They plan to offer additional training for their emergency response teams later this year.
The EM Nevada Program funds the EPWG grant based on 50 cents per cubic foot of waste disposed at the NNSS low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Counties receiving funding are eligible for the grant because waste shipments have passed through their territory en route to the NNSS. Funding is distributed through the State of Nevada Division of Emergency Management to Clark, Elko, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine counties.
-Contributors: Grant Johnson, Kevin Knapp
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