Tennessee fire commissioners and volunteers seek to simplify EIP requirements for volunteer firefighters

At a Tennessee Fire Commission subcommittee meeting, commissioners, commission staff and volunteer firefighters discussed changes to the Volunteer Education Incentive Program intended to make the certification process more attainable for volunteer departments across East, Middle and West Tennessee.

The subcommittee focused on reducing paperwork and scheduling barriers that volunteer departments say have driven participation down since the program’s 2021 rollout. Commissioners and volunteers discussed potentially waiving the Oct. 1 curriculum‑submission deadline, accepting documentation of training as it occurs during the year rather than requiring a single annual submission, and creating an online bank of preapproved course materials.

The matter matters because volunteers and commission staff told the subcommittee that small departments often lack dedicated training officers, reliable internet or time to handle a single large end‑of‑year submission. A volunteer representing Camden County said the program’s scheduling demands can make participation impossible: "the fire chief never could come up with a date," the volunteer said, describing an inability to gather personnel for required training and meet the deadline for…