Published: May 17, 2008 09:41 pm         

Panel to discuss volunteer fire units

Rising workers’ compensation premiums, a drop in finances and difficulties in finding and keeping replacements — life is growing more difficult for West Virginia’s volunteer fire units.

“There are definitely some issues,” Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, acknowledged Friday as lawmakers prepared to open the May round of interims meetings.

Aware of the growing concerns among VFDs, which make up the backbone of West Virginia’s firefighting forces, the leadership in both houses set up a special Select Committee F to examine problems facing them.

“Volunteer fire departments play such an important role in all of West Virginia, especially in rural counties,” said Green, one of five senators appointed to the panel by Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan.

“And their numbers are dropping dramatically. We’ve got to find something to recruit and retrain these volunteers.”

That West Virginia depends so heavily on VFDs is without question. Across the state, there are 424 such units, while only 11 departments consist of paid firefighters.

Last year, BrickStreet, the new private firm handling workers’ compensation, at least until July 1 when the market is scheduled to open up to other companies, paid out some $3 million claims while collecting a total of $500,000 in premiums. BrickStreet is awaiting a decision by the insurance commissioner on approval of its five-tiered proposal for all policyholders, including the state’s volunteer units.

Green emphasized the initial gathering of Select Committee F is to be an organizational meeting, when the chairs — Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, and Delegate Mike Caputo, D-Marion — likely will lay out the issues and begin assigning topics for the year-long study.

“I’m going in with an open mind to see what we need to facilitate their needs,” Green said.

In advance of the first meeting, Delegate Kenneth Tucker, D-Marshall, planned to meet with fire officials in his district to get a better understanding of issues the departments face. Tucker has said it would be wise of other panelists to follow his example so they will have a general idea of problems the firefighters are facing.

The committee will conduct its first meeting Monday afternoon in the House Judiciary Committee room.

Delegate Margaret Staggers, D-Fayette, isn’t serving on the special committee but is on record as favoring a proposal that the state pick up the tab on workers’ compensation premiums charged to VFDs.

Her idea has been endorsed by Thomas Miller, a 23-year veteran of the Sissonville VFD, provided the Legislature doesn’t approve any takebacks in other areas.

Miller says the proposal would provide some fiscal relief to VFDs and give them more wiggle room in already cramped budgets when it comes to buying equipment, financing mandatory training and dealing with escalating fuel costs.

“Sadly, it would not directly impact retention and recruitment of volunteers, though,” Miller added.

— E-mail: mannix

@register-herald.com