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The Nineties ...
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In 1990, a bond issue passed by voters went into effect that brought about much
needed departmental growth. Included in this bond issue was the construction of
two new stations, 23 and 24, new facilities for stations 17 and 14, a remodel
and expansion of the Training Center, and the showpiece of the department
today: Station 18. Station 18 houses two engines, one truck, two paramedic
rescue units, and one battalion chief. Living quarters and the barn are all
located on the first floor. The second story is the home to the Fire
Investigation Division and Fire Prevention Bureau. All of the remaining
administrative functions are housed on the third floor of this super station,
the largest fire facility in the state of Nevada.
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Chief
William S. Bunker
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In December 1990, after 31 years of service, Chief Parrish retired from the fire
department. Deputy Fire Chief William Bunker acted as the Fire Chief for six
months before he was appointed to the position on June 18, 1991. Prior to his
appointment, Chief Bunker served as a firefighter, engineer, paramedic, rural
fire chief, and deputy chief.
Full of enthusiasm and new ideas, Chief Bunker set to work immediately. One of
his first goals was to achieve an ISO Class 1 rating. By upgrading services and
the tremendous effort of every member of the department, CCFD finally obtained
its ISO Class 1 rating
in 1992, thus becoming the first county fire department to obtain this
distinctive rating of excellence at that time.
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The same month Chief Bunker took permanent office, an Employee Assistance
Program was put into effect. Percy "Red" Christian served as the liaison
officer. This program provided department members with a place to "let it all
out" without having to worry about "how it would look." Firefighters are a
shoulder for the community to cry on. Red was a shoulder for firefighters to
cry on. This program continues to prove its worth by helping many firefighters
and their families.
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On November 11, 1991, the department hired its hairiest member, a yellow
Labrador retriever, Josie. She joined the ranks of the Clark County Fire
Department to serve as an accelerant detecting canine.
Josie had been a guide-dog candidate, who at 18 months, was declared too
hyperactive for a guide dog. She was sold to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco &
Firearms (BATF) where she was quickly discovered for her other talents. The
career change worked out just fine for Josie. She was donated to the Clark
County Fire Department by BATF where she joined forces with her handler, Fire
Investigator Cliff Mitchell. Together they began a life-long friendship and
were trained as a team by the Connecticut State Police.
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Josie
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The Cliff-and-Josie team investigated approximately 250 fires, resulting in 15
arrests with a 100 percent conviction rate. Everyone who had an opportunity to
watch these two during demonstrations and/or actual investigation work were
always impressed with Josie's tremendous sense of smell. She could detect a
drop of gasoline in a parking lot that was almost three weeks old.
Josie made arson probes much easier for the department investigators, shaving
anywhere from five to twenty hours off an investigation. Many scenes are so
thoroughly burned out that conventional means of accelerant detection yield no
results. Josie could quite often mean the difference between an arsonist
getting away with it or cooling his heels in a jail cell.
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