Fallon/Churchill Fire Department

The Fallon/Churchill Volunteer Fire Department protects the City of Fallon and the surrounding Churchill County high desert in northern Nevada, covering roughly 250 square miles of the county's 5,000 total square miles. Despite running on an all-volunteer staffing model, the department became the nation's first volunteer fire department to earn an ISO Class 1 Public Protection Classification, a distinction it has held since 1995 -- one of only four departments statewide, out of 103, to reach that top rating.

Crews respond to more than 400 fire and vehicle-extrication calls a year, with an average response time of under six minutes across a service area stretching from a city of roughly 8,200 residents out into the farm and ranch country that makes up greater Churchill County's 25,000-plus population. The department has continued to modernize its fleet, recently welcoming custom-built engines with a community pushing-in ceremony.

Fire Chief Jared Dooley leads the department alongside Fire Marshal Brad Dolan, with day-to-day administration handled out of the department's office on North Carson Street in downtown Fallon.

The Fallon/Churchill Volunteer Fire Department recruits its members as volunteers rather than through the county's standard online job portal. Anyone interested in joining picks up a paper application in person at the department's office at 20 N. Carson Street in Fallon.