The Washoe County Sheriff's Office along with the Reno Chapter of the Associated General Contractors has created a Contractors auxiliary unit. The unit was formed after the 1998 Reno area floods. Local contractors attempted to assist with heavy machinery but were denied access to restricted areas. A review of the incident determined that much property could have been saved had they been allowed access.

The Contractors Auxiliary stands ready to assist in any major incident from man made disasters to natural catastrophes. The CA contributed to the search and recovery efforts at the Sierra Chemical explosion and at numerous smaller incidents. They have been very active in assisting with local fire fighting efforts.