Gerlach, Nev. (KOLO) – People in Gerlach say they feel left out after a budget error leaves them without a firefighter.

Rain fell in the town of Gerlach on Wednesday, temporarily easing the constant fear residents feel.

“It makes us feel like we’re not part of their community. Like we’re worth neglecting, and that’s hard,” said Taylor Hubler, a Gerlach resident.

In this small desert town; homes, schools and businesses are within walking distance of each other. But, Hubler explains, the community is even closer than the buildings.

“I have never met a kinder, more loving and more supportive group of people. They want to make sure we all make it, we’re all sheltered, we’re all fed and we’re all comfortable,” Hubler said.

So on October 11, when one of their neighbors’ houses caught fire, the community stepped in. They watched helplessly as the precious memories in that home burned while their fire station, right across the street, sat empty. Local resident Jason Walters explains that even though the Pyramid Lake Fire Department was on the scene within 40 minutes, that house would never have burned if their own fire department had been staffed. He even points out that a primary school, also opposite the burning house, was almost lost due to the widespread fires.

“How can we survive without paid staff and maybe one or two volunteers until the next fiscal year, which is in July,” asked Tina Walters, another resident. “There should be emergency money.”

Due to a budget miscalculation, Washoe County was forced to put Gerlach’s Fire Department Monday through Thursday in what’s called a “shutdown” status. This means there are no paid staff and only two volunteers will be available on weekends only. Residents say this brings no comfort, as there are only two fully certified volunteers in their community, both of whom have full-time jobs and other commitments. Some people in town have raised their hands to become volunteer firefighters, but even that requires months of training.

“It’s always a struggle to allocate resources. We all understand that,” begins Jason Walters. “But right now, we’ve been put in jeopardy by a budget error that wasn’t made by us. We had no hand in this, but now we have to bear the brunt of the consequences.”

Until this problem can be solved, the community is left to their own devices when it comes to handling the next emergency.

“We are already preparing an emergency response plan. So if someone gets hurt on my farm, I’ll load it up and go. Am I certified to do this? Not. Will this be the reality of saving someone’s life? Well, if that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll do,” said Roxy Dee, a local farm manager.

The county has been in contact with Gerlach residents and even visited the area while coming up with other solutions. They issued a statement saying: “The funding went through our procurement department and process, but we had no reason to question the figures that were presented. There was a mistake in these figures and the funding is not enough. We have great partners in Gerlach and we are working on another solution. Gerlach residents don’t pay for the fire service like the rest of Washoe County pays for the Truckee Meadows fire through property taxes. Even if they did, it would not be enough to support a fire station and staff in Gerlach. So we are working on other ideas.”

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