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Committee passes bill removing mandated training hours for volunteer and rural fire chiefs
Summary
HB1098 would remove a proposed mandate that volunteer and rural fire chiefs complete 200–250 hours of training and place training coordination under fire coordinators; sponsor said mandated hours would effectively shut down rural departments and harm ISO ratings; committee passed the bill to oversight.
Representative Harden presented a PCS to HB1098 aimed at preventing a mandate of 200–250 hours of training for volunteer and rural fire department chiefs and assistant chiefs. Harden said such a mandate "would shut down every fire department, every rural fire department, state of Oklahoma."
Harden told the committee the PCS places responsibility for training coordination with fire coordinators through the applicable state emergency services office and removes mandated hours that volunteers could not practically meet without losing paid employment. "If you look up the volun the, definition of a volunteer fire department, they don't get paid. They they can't they cannot go for 5 or 6 weeks to training, keep their job, keep this going," Harden said.
Members and sponsors agreed training remains strongly encouraged; Harden said many rural departments already document training and train monthly at the local level. He noted a modest retirement benefit: "If you stay 20 years if you manage to stay at a rural or a volunteer fire department for 20 years, I believe you received $200 retirement for the rest of your life."
Committee members raised questions about maintaining training records, liability differences between metro and rural departments, and whether some minimum hours might provide oversight. Harden replied that training is documented at agencies and coordinated locally and by the fire coordinators. After discussion, the committee voted to pass HB1098 and move it to the appropriate oversight committee; the transcript records the chair declaring the bill passed but does not include a roll-call tally in the excerpt.
