The same is true for Tennessee, karl. The Fire and Codes Enforcement Academy has adjunct and/or contracted instructors that come out to the counties and teach. There is a small fee for many of these classes but often times they are free or paid for by DHS grant funding. As for the 16 hour orientation & 64 hour basic classes. (The "mandated" training that Kimball is furstrated over) The State has been conducting train-the-trainer classes to certify personnel so departments can conduct this training themselves. They don't have to go to the state fire training center in Bell Buckle, Tenn as the story states. (Although that would be a good idea for those who can) I know time is a premium commodity for volunteers, I've been one for 30+ years, but training is a critical part of job.
Number one, you should be conducting a minimum number of hours training in the first place without it being “mandated”; number two, where were you when this issue was being discussed by your peers, associations and organizations even before it made it to the floor? Did you voice your concerns or oppositions then? And number three, what have you done since, to find out what resources are available to comply with it now that it’s law? It’s time we stop being a bunch of good ole boys and girls just wanting to help out. If we want to ride around town in the big red trucks with the woo woo going and sporting the macho tee-shirts with the pagers and radios hanging off our belts, “looking the part”, it’s high time we conduct the training to insure we can perform the job.
My department is in a county that our representatives had chosen to exempt from this training for fear that it would cause a financial burden on the volunteer departments. Boy, I’m so glad they were thinking of our well being. Ha ha Like many they were uneducated on this subject. Well guess what! Our Firemen’s Association had a resolution introduced to the county commission to include our county in this. Why??? Oh I don’t know….Maybe it insures that our firefighters have some basic knowledge of the job that they volunteer to do, it gives our departments some credibility, it helps on ISO ratings, it may save some lives and property, it may help cover my butt if the terrible does happen.
Our county is probably one of the poorest in the state when it comes to funding for the fire service. We’re a “charitable contribution” on our county budget if that tells you anything & we have opted to do this because it’s a step in the right direction, for improving services, saving lives & property both civilians and firefighters and in the end saving our taxpayers money.
I urge you to check with the Fire & Codes Enforcement Academy. This isn’t as costly as you may think. If you have a few firefighters in your county that are certified to the instructor one level they can attend a train-the-trainer class for the 16 & 64 hour classes (it’s been offered several times across the state) and the training can be conducted at your location and on your schedule. The state even provides the instructor with the course outline and forms on DVD. The cost… $175.00 per class, whether you have 1 or 100 students enrolled. Maybe involve several departments together to further save.
Before you go bashing this stop and think of the positives for you, your department, city/county and your citizens.
Fire training mandate slammed
The same is true for Tennessee, karl. The Fire and Codes Enforcement Academy has adjunct and/or contracted instructors that come out to the counties and teach. There is a small fee for many of these classes but often times they are free or paid for by DHS grant funding. As for the 16 hour orientation & 64 hour basic classes. (The "mandated" training that Kimball is furstrated over) The State has been conducting train-the-trainer classes to certify personnel so departments can conduct this training themselves. They don't have to go to the state fire training center in Bell Buckle, Tenn as the story states. (Although that would be a good idea for those who can) I know time is a premium commodity for volunteers, I've been one for 30+ years, but training is a critical part of job.
Fire training mandate slammed
Number one, you should be conducting a minimum number of hours training in the first place without it being “mandated”; number two, where were you when this issue was being discussed by your peers, associations and organizations even before it made it to the floor? Did you voice your concerns or oppositions then? And number three, what have you done since, to find out what resources are available to comply with it now that it’s law? It’s time we stop being a bunch of good ole boys and girls just wanting to help out. If we want to ride around town in the big red trucks with the woo woo going and sporting the macho tee-shirts with the pagers and radios hanging off our belts, “looking the part”, it’s high time we conduct the training to insure we can perform the job. My department is in a county that our representatives had chosen to exempt from this training for fear that it would cause a financial burden on the volunteer departments. Boy, I’m so glad they were thinking of our well being. Ha ha Like many they were uneducated on this subject. Well guess what! Our Firemen’s Association had a resolution introduced to the county commission to include our county in this. Why??? Oh I don’t know….Maybe it insures that our firefighters have some basic knowledge of the job that they volunteer to do, it gives our departments some credibility, it helps on ISO ratings, it may save some lives and property, it may help cover my butt if the terrible does happen. Our county is probably one of the poorest in the state when it comes to funding for the fire service. We’re a “charitable contribution” on our county budget if that tells you anything & we have opted to do this because it’s a step in the right direction, for improving services, saving lives & property both civilians and firefighters and in the end saving our taxpayers money. I urge you to check with the Fire & Codes Enforcement Academy. This isn’t as costly as you may think. If you have a few firefighters in your county that are certified to the instructor one level they can attend a train-the-trainer class for the 16 & 64 hour classes (it’s been offered several times across the state) and the training can be conducted at your location and on your schedule. The state even provides the instructor with the course outline and forms on DVD. The cost… $175.00 per class, whether you have 1 or 100 students enrolled. Maybe involve several departments together to further save. Before you go bashing this stop and think of the positives for you, your department, city/county and your citizens.