New ambulance arrives for Ranchos

A new ambulance purchased with the help of American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated to the district by Douglas County commissioners went into service on Wednesday in the Gardnerville Ranchos.

Built by Braun Northwest, in Chehalis, Wash., on a Ford F450 chassis to the standard specification and design developed by district personnel, the unit cost $230,000.

East Fork Chief Tod Carlini singled out employees Chad Sheldrew and Mason Jackson for their work on the acquisition and specifications, with input from the members.

“Chad and Mason were handed this project some time ago and have been able to see it through from start to finish,” he said. “They did a great job.”

The new ambulance will go into service at Fire Station 7 in the Gardnerville Ranchos, the district’s busiest.

The district operates four frontline Advanced Life Support Ambulances that cover the 675 square miles in East Fork Township. District ambulances are driven an average 60,000 miles a year. The units are designed to have the patient compartment remounted on new chassis thus saving the cost of the total ambulance build.

The district has applied the practice for the past several years, saving over $500,000 in ambulance costs.

East Fork Battalion Chief Troy Valenzuela said the district’s ambulances are the most used vehicles in the apparatus fleet. The district has had to wait over a year for this acquisition due to a lack of chassis availability.

ARPA provided relief funds to state, local, and tribal governments that had been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Carlini thanked county commissioners for the allocation of funds for not only the ambulance but also for a complete replacement of its ambulance gurneys and for a wildland fire apparatus refurbishment project which is also underway and which will be deployed in southern Douglas County once completed.