By Ryan Lewis
Correspondent
JASPER, Tenn. -- Volunteer firefighters in Marion County say they can't afford the additional training now required by the state.
And they don't have the time to take the training, either.
David Collins, board chairman of the Suck Creek Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, told county commissioners recently that there's no money for the additional training under the Firefighter Minimum Training Law. And volunteer firefighters can't afford to take time from their regular jobs to get the additional training anyway, he said.
"This requires the training be completed before you respond to anything," Mr. Collins said. "We don't have certified trainers, and we don't have firefighters that are intent on going back to school.
"Right now," he said, "I don't have the collective wisdom to answer 'How can we do this?'"
The law passed earlier this year by the state Legislature requires 16 additional hours of training for any firefighter with less than five years of experience. Its goal is to reduce the number of firefighter casualties. It takes effect in January.
Mr. Collins estimated that 75 percent of Marion volunteer firefighters have less than five years of service.
"It's not a matter of rebelling against the law," he said, "but when you go to implementing it, things get complicated fast. When (politicians) do something like this, the trial lawyers ought to send them really nice Christmas presents."
Counties could chose not to adhere to the new regulation, but Marion commissioners voted in September to abide by it.
"If we had (opted out of the new law)," Marion County Mayor Howell Moss said last month, "it would have made the county liable. Either way, we probably lose. No matter what we did, it'll probably be bad for us."
Commissioners decided to appoint the finance committee to investigate the issue further.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com
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This is the problem with volunteers. You have to appreciate all that they do, but you can't make them do anything. An untrained firefighter is a hazard not only to himself but everyone else on the scene. You have to force the issue when it comes to safety. The cost of a negligence lawsuit is way more than the cost of safety training.
If they can't afford to get a certified trainer to come to their station and deliver 16 hours of training on a weekend then they are in deep trouble. There is grant money available for this but someone in the fire department would have to take the initiative to apply for it.