Our District fire Chief
Tod F. Carlini

District Fire Chief Tod F. Carlini

 

The District Fire Chief is responsible for the overall operation of fire protection district, which provides services to over 96% of Douglas County.   This not only includes the administrative duties associated with such a position but also as an incident commander on major incidents.

Chief Carlini is a 1981/82 graduate of the University of Utah with degrees in Architecture and History.  He received his prehospital emergency medical training also in Utah at both Utah State University and the University of Utah.

Chief Carlini started his fire service career as a volunteer with the Yerington Volunteer Fire Department in 1975.  After graduating from college, he worked two years in architecture, engineering, and urban planning.  In 1984 he answered the call of his true passion and began his career in the fire service working his way through the ranks, serving in virtually every position up into Chief Fire Officer positions for over 30 of his now 47 years in the fire service.  He has served as the District Fire Chief for the East Fork Fire Protection District for the past 22 years. Chief Carlini achieved his Fire Officer IV Certification in March of 2000, which is the highest level of certification recognized by the State of Nevada and the National Fire Protection Association. He is also a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program, which is the equivalent to a Master’s Degree in Fire and EMS Administration.  He is certified as a Type III Incident Commander and managed Douglas County’s largest wildland fire, the Bison Fire (2014) for the first 36 hours.

He also served as the Executive Secretary of the Nevada State Firefighters’ Association for 13 years and was one of Nevada’s representatives to the National Volunteer Fire Council. Tod serves as the Chairman and founding member of the Nevada State Firefighter Memorial and is a former member of the State Emergency Response Commission sub-committee on Planning and Training, a former member of the now State Resiliency Committee, and one of former Governor Kenny Guinn’s appointed members of the very first Nevada Homeland Security Commission, created after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Chief Carlini and the East Fork Fire Protection District have been recognized by the Nevada Tax Payer’s Association by being nominated twice and receiving once, the Cashman Good Government Award for responsible management of public funds and tax dollars.

In 2011, Chief Carlini was awarded the Health Care Legacy Award, by the Carson Valley Medical Center Foundation for his leadership and innovation in providing emergency medical services to the community and ushering in 12 lead EKG capability to diagnosis segment elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI) or what to many is known as the “widow maker” of heart attacks.  This innovation and technology reduces the time from the cardiac event to life saving intervention in the catheterization lab to 60 minutes in most cases.  Dozens of Douglas County residents and visitor’s lives have been saved since the implementation. East Fork’s Firefighter/Paramedics have one of the highest cardiac arrest save rates per capita.

Most recently, he serves on the State of Nevada Interstate Mutual Aid Committee (IMAC) responsible for in-state movement and policy regarding all mutual aid resources. He is a founding member of the Nevada Wildland Fire Protection Plan, which provides an opportunity for local government to pass on its financial liabilities for wildland fire suppression to the State of Nevada.  He is considered a leading authority in wildland fire cost sharing, negotiation, and cost apportionment with Federal agencies.

Chief Carlini has also served for the past 16 years as Douglas County Emergency Manager. The District provides the federally mandated Emergency Management Services to Douglas County under a contract between the County and District. During his tenure, he has managed every flood event in Douglas County since the 1997 Flood.  He was one of the leading individuals in the COVID-19 Pandemic response in Douglas County and the State.  Over his tenure, Chief Carlini has successfully secured over $15.5 million dollars in Federal Grant Funds for the District and Douglas County.

He has raised and owned 6 Dalmatians, the dog universally associated with the fire service profession, dating back to the 1870’s when fire apparatus was pulled by horses.

He is a member of numerous fire related associations and actively participates in both state and national associations for the betterment of all fire service personnel.  During his tenure in Nevada’s Fire Service, Chief Carlini has participated with his peers in legislative lobbying activities with several sessions of the Nevada State Legislature. He is considered today to be Nevada’s senior most tenured Fire Chief within the State of Nevada.