State House interim study examines rural firefighter retention

Smith Studies Rural Firefighter Retention

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 30th) – Rep. David Smith, R-Arpelar, last week held an interim study to examine issues surrounding recruiting and retaining volunteer rural firefighters.

The packed study was held before the House Public Safety Committee on Oct. 21 at the State Capitol.

"Living in rural Oklahoma, I know the importance of rural firefighters," Smith said. "We've got 60 and 70-year-olds fighting fires because we can't get some of the younger people to come up."

Muskogee City Council sets August vote on $78M bond issue, sales tax renewal

County Assessor Ron Dean during public comment at the Muskogee City Council meeting Monday

Brace for impact, Muskogee: our city council has set an election for a bond and sales tax proposal totaling over $78,000,000 on August 27th.

I dropped in for my first city council meeting in years yesterday when I heard that a special meeting had been called to vote on sending the mega-million dollar package to the ballot. You can view the agenda here; scroll down to items 14, 15, 16, and 17.

Stitt signs bill ensuring firefighters can provide limited emergency medical transport

Legislation signed ensuring firefighters can provide emergency medical transport in limited situations

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 17th) – Legislation giving firefighters statutory authority to transport patients to the hospital in emergency situations has been signed into law.  Senate Bill 1515, by Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, and Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, was signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday.

Weaver filed the legislation in response to a situation where an Oklahoma City firefighter was disciplined for his decision to drive a 3-year-old burn victim to the hospital in his fire truck after waiting 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Reps. Ford, May ask governments to treat COVID-19 as line-of-duty injury for first responders

Ford, May Ask for Job Injury Pay for Public Safety First Responders

OKLAHOMA CITY - State Reps. Ross Ford and Stan May, both R-Broken Arrow, are asking state, county and municipal governments to cover public safety officers that contract COVID-19 in the same manner as a line-of-duty injury.

“Any public safety officer that contracts this illness should have it treated as a presumptive line-of-duty injury the same as any other injury,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.

Volunteer Firefighter Numbers Continue to Grow with Changes to Laws

Volunteer Firefighter Numbers Continue to Grow with Changes to Laws

OKLAHOMA CITY – House Majority Leader Mike Sanders (R-Kingfisher) said close to 500 new volunteer firefighters have joined rural fire departments four years after he successfully ran legislation that eliminated the age limit for new volunteers. He expects to see an even greater increase with the passage of another law that takes effect today.

House Bill 2005, authored by Sanders, took effect Nov. 1, 2015. The law eliminated the 45-year-old age limit for new firefighters by giving them the ability to join a department without the requirement that they be added to the state’s pension plan.

This year, Sanders saw his House Bill 2051 passed and signed into law. The measure, which became effective today, allows retired firefighters who are already part of the state’s pension program to return to service in volunteer fire departments without it affecting their current retirement benefit and without it counting as an accrued retirement benefit against the state’s pension plan.

“Saving lives and property is behind my commitment to continue to increase the number of firefighters who serve our state, especially our volunteers who help run our rural fire service programs,” Sanders said. “By allowing those who are willing to serve to do so without harming the state’s pension program gives us more resources to protect our citizens and our communities.”

Sanders said about 85 percent of the firefighters in Oklahoma are volunteers, and 95 percent of the state’s fire departments are certified with the Rural Fire Defense Program, meaning they serve rural populations.

State law, however, previously prohibited willing volunteers over the age of 45 from becoming firefighters because the state’s pension and retirement plan simply could not afford them.

Sanders said he asked constituents above the age of 45 if they would be interested in volunteering and about whether or not they needed a pension. Most said they already had pensions but would be more than willing to serve.

Sanders worked with former Council of Firefighter Training (COFT) Executive Director the late Jon Hansen on HB 2005 and with the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association on HB 2051. Lawmakers and rural fire coordinators from across the state helped in the drafting of both bills.

In addition to saving lives and property, Sanders said the laws also can help lower insurance rates.

House Bills 2005 and 2051 both were approved unanimously in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate before being signed into law by the governor.

Stitt signs bill aimed at increasing volunteer firefighter ranks

Governor Signs Bill to Increase Number of Volunteer Firefighters

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Stitt on Thursday signed into law a bill that will allow retired paid firefighters to return to service as volunteers without effecting their state pensions.

House Bill 2051, authored by House Majority Leader Mike Sanders, R-Kingfisher, and Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, passed unanimously in both the House and Senate. The new law will allow retired paid firefighters to perform as volunteer firefighters for a volunteer department without it affecting their current retirement benefit but also without it counting as an accrued retirement benefit against the state’s pension plan.

“Our rural residents and communities are dependent upon the services of volunteer firefighters to keep them safe from harm in the event of deadly wildfires,” Sanders said. “It helps so much to have individuals who are already trained and well-seasoned to perform these duties. This is why I worked so hard to ensure that we can build the ranks of volunteer firefighters without adding the state’s pension costs.”

Murdock said, “With the amount of wildfires we have in Northwest Oklahoma we need all the men and women we can get. The rural fire departments are stretched to the limits. The passage of this bill will allow experienced retired firefighters to join volunteer departments bringing their wealth of knowledge to that team.”

HB 2051 bill amends language to legislation previously passed by Sanders and signed into law that eliminated the 45-year-old age limit for new firefighters by giving them the ability to join a department without the requirement that they be added to the state’s pension plan. The legislation, which took effect in November 2015, has resulted in 300 new volunteer firefighters joining rural fire departments over the past 3 ½ years.

Sanders explained that state law previously prohibited willing volunteers over the age of 45 from becoming firefighters because the state’s pension and retirement plan could not afford them. Many people from his district, however, said they would be willing to serve without needing the retirement benefit. This amendment now will allow retired paid firefighters to participate in protecting the states rural fire districts as volunteers without affecting funding that can now be appropriated to other core government services.

Sanders said about 85 percent of the firefighters in Oklahoma are volunteers. Of the state’s more than 900 fire departments, about 95 percent are certified with the Rural Fire Defense Program.

Bill to Increase Number of Volunteer Firefighters Heads to Governor

Bill to Increase Number of Volunteer Firefighters Heads to Governor

OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill that would allow retired firefighters to return to service as volunteers without affecting their state pensions passed the state Senate today with a unanimous vote of 42-0.

House Bill 2051, authored by House Majority Leader Mike Sanders, R-Kingfisher, and Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, now heads to the governor to be signed into law. 

“Rural residents are dependent upon volunteer firefighters and fire departments to keep their lives and properties safe,” Sanders said. “This law will allow those willing to serve in this capacity to so without damaging their own pension plans or without adding cost to the state.”

HB 2051 bill amends language to legislation previously passed by Sanders and signed into law that eliminated the 45-year-old age limit for new firefighters by giving them the ability to join a department without the requirement that they be added to the state’s pension plan. The legislation, which took effect in November 2015, has resulted in 300 new volunteer firefighters joining rural fire departments over the past 3 ½ years.

The new legislation will allow retired firefighters to perform as volunteer firefighters for a volunteer department without it affecting their current retirement benefit but also without it counting as an accrued retirement benefit against the state’s pension plan.

“State law previously prohibited willing volunteers over the age of 45 from becoming firefighters because the state’s pension and retirement plan could not afford them,” Sanders said. “Many, however, have been willing to serve without needing the retirement benefit. This amendment will allow trained and seasoned but retired firefighters to participate in protecting the states rural fire districts without affecting funding for other core government services.”

Sanders said about 85 percent of the firefighters in Oklahoma are volunteers. Of the state’s more than 900 fire departments, about 95 percent are certified with the Rural Fire Defense Program.

Stitt endorsed by Tulsa firefighters group

TULSA FIREFIGHTERS ANNOUNCE ENDORSEMENT OF KEVIN STITT FOR GOVERNOR

TULSA, Oklahoma (October 25, 2018)— In a press conference today at the headquarters of Tulsa IAFF Local 176, the Tulsa Firefighters Political Action Committee, the second largest union in the state supporting Oklahoma firefighters, endorsed Kevin Stitt for Governor of Oklahoma.

“Many of us felt called to become a firefighter because we wanted to help those who live in our community,” said IAFF Local 176 President, Jim Nance. “We feel Kevin Stitt is answering that same call and will be a leader all Oklahomans can count on. He has not only taken an interest in the job of a firefighter, but he has also experienced it first hand, by going into the flashover chamber alongside Tulsa firefighters to experience the severe conditions we face.  It shows a level of commitment and dedication we value as first responders. Aside from that, Kevin Stitt has a plan to better fund public safety, ensuring every fire department across the state has access to the most up-to-date training and tools to keep citizens safe.”

Stitt welcomed the support of the faithful public safety professionals and discussed his vision to support core services in the state of Oklahoma.

“I am deeply honored to have the support of the dedicated firefighters in Tulsa who protect our communities every day,” said Stitt. “I am running for governor to put Oklahoma on the path to being the Top Ten state we all know it can be. It starts by leading the state to make decisions for the next generation and not the next election. In a Stitt administration, we are going to deliver accountability and efficiency for every taxpayer dollar spent in order to provide funding certainty to core public services like public safety, education and infrastructure.”

Local family supports Police, Fire, EMS with unique gifts

Amid all the negative national attention on law enforcement, one Muskogee family decided to show their support for local emergency services in a unique manner.

Teaching their children to be comfortable approaching law enforcement officers, this week the Walls family started giving out the pictured "Survival Kits" of candy to various police, fire and EMS. They were gracious enough to answer some questions for this post.

1) What prompted you to do this?
"With everything bad going on with the police etc, I wanted to give our local police something positive."

2) What agencies have you provided the kits to?
"Muskogee Police Department, Muskogee Fire Department, and EMS."

3) How many kits have you handed out so far?
"We have handed out 15 so far, but will be doing more this week."

4) What do you hope people can learn from this?
"I hope people will become more comfortable with our officers and know they're here to help!"

5) How has the response been when you've given these out?
"I have got only great responses! Especially from the fire station #4, they really welcomed my kids! Even let them see the fire truck!"

What a great idea for productive and positive interaction for their children. It's good to see members of our community supporting those agencies that are there for us 24/7. Let's hope we see more of this rather than the negative, destructive behavior often in the news.