MVFD Opens New Headquarters

By LAURA ROBISON

The Progress

The Moapa Valley Fire District (MVFD) held an open house on Saturday, May 21, and invited the public to tour it’s new headquarters building in Logandale. The new facility is located at 3570 North Lyman in Logandale in front of Logandale Fire Station #73. It will serve as the main office for the MVFD.

Attendees at this free event were treated to hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream, all served up by local volunteer firefighters,. There was also an inflatable bounce house on site for the kids.

MVFD Chief Stephen Neel had everyone go to the front of the new building for a short ceremony and a “hose cutting.”

In his remarks Neel shared a little bit of recent history about the MVFD and how it all came together. In 2017, Neel and many others in the community believed the district could provide a better level of service if it were placed more under local control. Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick listened and gave them a chance, Neel said.

In July 2018, the MVFD separated from Clark County Fire District, and Neel became the fire chief.
As part of the plan, Neel knew they could reduce response times and provide a higher level of service. “In doing so, we needed a place for our volunteers and eventually full-time firefighters to stay and sleep,” he stated. “We also needed an Emergency Operations Center so we can manage larger incidents like natural disasters.”

Neel began looking at options on how to provide a place for the firefighters. He remembered at one point driving by the old Shears building in downtown Overton. “I saw this building and the potential that it had,” he said. “I knew this would be a perfect solution for our needs.”

Neel had heard that local pediatric dentist Dr. Cody Hughes and orthodontist Ryan Jolley had bought the property to build a new dental office there. So Neel approached them about the district buying the mobile building from him

“Cody just handed me the keys and said it’s yours,” Neel said.

In an interview with The Progress, Hughes said that he and Jolley had been trying to decide what to do with the old building as they made plans to build a new dental office on the site.

“When Chief Neel approached us about using (the building) for the fire station, Ryan and I were excited to be able to offer something back to the community this way!” Hughes said. “We hope it serves the fire department well for many years.”

With the donation of the building, the plan was set in motion to get everything done in a timely manner.
With approval from the County Commission, and a budget of $35,000 from the MVFD Board, the work began in September of 2021.

After the building was moved to the site, Neel’s son Hunter decided to seek help from friends, family and local volunteers to remodel the building for his Eagle Scout project. Every room in the building has been completely redone, from floor to ceiling. The new facility has an office for the Chief, a conference room, a day room, a kitchen, a storage room and a couple of dorm-style rooms with a bed, storage lockers, and small dresser in each. The day room, features a spray painted mural, done by Theo Schwartz.

Volunteer firefighter Blake Empey, who has been serving the community for over 10 years, commented, “I like that we have our own department out here because we can do specialized training to what we need specifically out here. Having a new facility helps us do even more than we could before.”

And Erika Beckstrand, also a volunteer firefighter and AEMT, added, “This new building makes it easier when you are on call overnight. With a place on site to sleep, response time will be better.”

Chief Neel said, “Our volunteers answer the call day, night, weekends and holidays. They leave their families when a call comes in. With the new building, we have a place where we can grow and provide a higher level of services to our community.”

Neel called on all the volunteers who were present to come and “cut the hose.” He said firefighters don’t cut ribbons, they cut hoses.

Neel expressed appreciation to Cody Hughes, the Moapa Valley Irrigation Company, the MVFD board, and many volunteers who helped on the trailer, and Nathan Bradford for making the headquarters possible.
“I especially want to thank my wife for all the many hours of working and supporting this project,” Neel said.