Les Groth has spent all his life volunteering, from the Warren Engine Company to the Carson City Senior Center. He was an active member of Warren Engine Company No. 1 from 1946-1978. He became fire chief in 1959 and became the Carson City's first paid fire chief in 1964.
A graduate of Carson High School, class of 1941, Groth first started work as an apprentice printer with the Nevada Appeal. He served in the Navy from 1942-1945, with service in the South Pacific. In January, 1946, he started work at the State Printing Office and finished his apprenticeship as a linotype-machinist operator. He was recalled by the Navy to active duty during the Korean conflict and upon his discharge in 1952, he returned to the State Printing Office.
At the time of his appointment as the first paid fire chief in Carson City history, Carson City had only three paid firemen, six pieces of equipment, and one station. After his retirement in August, 1978, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service on a part-time basis, working in several capacities and was also a member of a private fire consulting firm for three years.
Les Groth was a major figure in state fire organizations, holding director, president, chairman, state vice-president, board of directors of the Nevada Fire Chiefs Association, as well as being a member of the National Fire Protection Association, Western Fire Chiefs Association, Nevada Fire Chiefs Association, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Lake Tahoe Regional Fire Association, and the Masonic Lodge.
He was Vice President of the Carson City Babe Ruth League, ex-officio member of the Carson City Regional Planning Commission; Advisory Board and member of the credentials committee of the State Fire Marshal, Western Regional Fire Chiefs director at large, President of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, President of the advisory board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and secretary-treasurer of the Nevada Fire Chiefs Association.