Douglas County hires new emergency management director

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Kara Easton has been hired as Douglas County’s new Emergency Management Director. Easton most recently served the City of Las Vegas as the Emergency Management Specialist, where she served in the role since 2016. Highlights of Easton’s experience include extensive work in Incident Command System (ICS) training, collaboration with stakeholders and city personnel, state-certified lead instructor for ICS, writing emergency operation plans, assistance with tabletop exercise planning, and she served as the City’s logistics section Chief in the emergency operations response for the City of Las Vegas.

“I am very excited to have been selected for the position of Emergency Management Director,” said Easton. “As a native Nevadan, this position will allow me to continue serving a great community in this state and I look forward to establishing new relationships with the Douglas County community while utilizing my experience and knowledge in emergency operations training.”

The County is still under contract for Emergency Management service with East Fork Fire District through June 30, 2023. Easton will be appointed by the Board of County Commissioners at a later date, allowing for East Fork Fire to serve the duration of their contract and assist with the transition.

On October 6, 2022, the board of County Commissioners discussed and provide direction to staff regarding the Interlocal Agreement for service between Douglas County and the East Fork Fire Protection District for Emergency Management services, which included termination of the Interlocal Agreement, on June 30, 2023, and voted to approve the Emergency Management Director position. Lyon and Storey Counties have also created new Emergency Management positions, creating new stand-alone positions in three out of the four quad counties in the region.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Kara Easton on board and we believe she has the skill set and experience to work collaboratively with East Fork through the transition while building on the existing emergency management program and leading the way for the future,” said County Manager Patrick Cates. “We can’t stress enough how much we thank East Fork for their dedication, years of service, and institutional knowledge. We see this new role as a support function to our public safety partners designed to be solely dedicated to the emergency management function. It is our goal to keep the relationship with East Fork sound as we will continue to actively all work together to protect this community.”

This was a competitive application process and it yielded strong candidates. The process consisted of multiple interview panels which included community stakeholders, public safety personnel, and Douglas County staff.