Senate bill would set different rules for volunteer and career firefighting

Published 4:30 pm Saturday, February 29, 2020

MOULTRIE – The Georgia Senate passed legislation Tuesday that will alleviate some of the difficulty of training requirements for volunteer firefighters across the state.

Senate Bill 342 aims to create a council whose purpose is to set establishing training and certification rules for volunteer fire departments that differ from those required for full-time professional firefighters. This was the product of concern that tougher training would deter prospective volunteers from joining, especially in rural areas where volunteer firehouses are a necessary part of the community’s public safety readiness.

That said, Colquitt County’s volunteer fire department has decided not to lower the difficulty of the training regimen; in fact, they appear to have high hopes for their volunteers.

“We will not make any changes to our training regimen as of now,” said Dustin Hart, President of the Colquitt County Volunteer Firefighter Association. “We don’t foresee making any changes. Last year we more or less upped the training regimen; we are now offering a Firefighter 1 class which is a step above the usual RVF (Registered Volunteer Firefighter) course, which is the minimum requirement, so we went a step above and beyond.”

RVF is a course that covers the basics of firefighting, while Firefighter 1 goes more in depth and covers various topics such as fire behavior and safety. Many volunteer firefighters don’t want the training changed, fearing that a change in training might mean a change in work quality.

Currently, all volunteer firefighters across the state of Georgia must complete the same training as professional firefighters.

“We can’t expect them to do all of the same things as career firefighters in terms of hours; volunteers have to work around their jobs and families in order to be a volunteer firefighter,” said Colquitt County Fire Chief Jeff Thibodeau. “If the bill will help change or take into consideration the hours that volunteers have to commit that would be better. But lessening training requirements isn’t good because that’s what saves us and saves lives.”

The bill will create a new seven-member Georgia Volunteer Fire Service Council that will be tasked with establishing training programs for volunteer firefighters and will certify anyone who has received training as a federal firefighter.

Thibodeau had been a volunteer firefighter for 12 years before becoming a career firefighter.

“There is hardly any difference between career and volunteer firefighters. The only difference is one gets paid to do what they love and the other does it just because they love it, but they’re all trained professionals,” he said.

According to Senate Safety Committee Chairman John Albers, changing the rules for volunteer firefighters would greatly help rural areas in the state where fire-safety resources might be stretched thin. The bill would also prohibit those with felony convictions from joining a volunteer firehouse, unless more than five years have passed since the conviction and the person has both completed a training program and been recommended by the trainers.