It has been 150 years since the citizens of North San Juan formed an all-volunteer fire department to help protect their community. Today, the North San Juan Fire Protection District remains one of the few fire departments in Nevada County that functions with an almost completely volunteer staff. The district covers the largest territory in the county, at 70-plus square miles, which includes the area between the South and Middle Yuba rivers, and from Bridgeport in the west to Malakoff Diggins State Park in the east. According to Assistant Fire Chief Boyd Johnson, the district has the tiniest budget in …