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The Seventies ...
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On April 11, 1970, just two short years after the death of Colin Hanley, the
department lost a second firefighter in the line of duty. Captain Frank Testa
died while fighting a fire at the Stardust hotel. The Stardust, located at 3000
Las Vegas Boulevard, found itself engulfed in flames, which had began in a
utility room. The fire rapidly spread to the executive offices, the gift and
specialty shops in the lobby, and damaged more than 100 rooms. Captain Testa
suffered a heart attack while fighting the blaze. Efforts to revive him were to
no avail. Captain Testa was pronounced dead on arrival at Southern Nevada
Memorial Hospital.
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Chief Clell Henley
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Chief Clell Henley became the department's third Fire Chief. Although he served
in this position only between February 1971 and November 1974, his actual
career with the Clark County Fire Department had lasted as long as the
department itself.
Chief Henley was one of the founding members of the department, running a unit
out of the Huntridge Station even before the opening of Station 11 in 1954.
Chief Henley was the first driver on B Platoon, the first battalion chief in the
Fire Prevention Bureau and the first deputy fire chief for the department.
Other positions held by Chief Henley in his 21-year career included engineer,
captain, fire marshal, assistant fire chief, and fire chief.
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As the community grew, it became apparent that the three fire departments
serving the Las Vegas valley – Clark County Fire Department , Las Vegas Fire
and Rescue, and the North Las Vegas Fire Department - needed to communicate
more closely. On July 1, 1973, the alarm offices of the three departments
merged and a centralized dispatch center began its operation.
Becoming the fourth chief in the department’s history, Leroy O. Hawks was
appointed to the position on November 21, 1974. The same month Chief Hawks took
office the department took on the added responsibility of handling
administration duties for the 11 existing volunteer fire departments in Clark
County.
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Chief Leroy O. Hawks
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These departments are manned by members of the communities where they are
located. These volunteer departments are as much a part of the department as
any other division. Without these volunteers many people in the rural areas
would be virtually unprotected.
A major event occurred in April 1975 as a result of a "governor pilot study".
Emergency Medical Technician Advanced level medical care became a reality in
the valley. The program, which requires 500 instructional hours was attended by
nine firefighters and engineers from the Clark County Fire Department and six
employees of Mercy Ambulance. They graduated on July 1, 1975. Emergency Medical
Services (EMS) responses compose over 75% of department calls and all
suppression personnel are required to have Emergency Medical
Technician-Intermediate (EMT-I) certification.
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Two new stations opened in 1975 at a cost of $169,000 each. Station 19, a
two-bay station located at 5710 Spencer Street at Russell Rd., was dedicated to
the memory of Captain Frank Testa. Station 20, also a two-bay station located
at 5710 Judson Avenue at Lynn Lane, was dedicated to the memory of Colin
Hanley.
Chief Leroy O. Hawks officially retired from the Clark County Fire Department on
December 2, 1977. Chief Hawks stepped down and made room for the man who would
carry the department through the 80's - Chief Roy Parrish. During his tenure,
Chief Hawks had served as a firefighter, engineer, captain, lieutenant, senior
fire investigator, assistant fire chief, and deputy fire chief.
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Chief Roy Parrish
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Chief Parrish, the fifth chief of the department, began his career with
department in July 1959. He was promoted to engineer in 1963, lieutenant in
1965, captain in 1966, battalion chief in 1969. He was appointed to assistant
chief in 1972, deputy chief in 1974 and finally became the chief in 1977.
The first change the department saw after Chief Parrish took the reigns was an
upgrade of the dispatch system. In December of 1978, the Computer Aided
Dispatch System (CAD) was added to the Alarm Office. A microfiche “Rapid Access
Retrieval System” was employed as a back-up system in case of computer failure.
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