MAINE, USA — OSHA proposed changes to guidelines and regulations fire departments must follow, but the change could hurt Maine’s volunteer departments.
The Fire Brigade Standard was established in 1980. Now, more than 40 years later, the Emergency Response Standard aims to upgrade that.
While some say it’s a welcome change, there are challenges.
"The cost for turn-out gear has gone up right through the roof," Kenneth Desmond, President of the Maine State Fire Federation, said. "Especially small volunteer departments, if you have to replace your gear every 10 years that a burden, that's a lot of money to the taxpayers."
For departments that rely on paid volunteers, funding is a big issue.
"Four-thousand dollars doesn't quite cover the cost outfit of one fighter with their turn-out gear," Mt. Vernon Fire & Rescue Chief Jason Beckler said. "When you start talking engines, they're talking a 20-year replacement plan, I'm on a 30-year replacement plan."
Another hurdle is hundreds of additional training hours.
"All fire chiefs have to be certified at a fire officer three level which takes up a lot of commitment of time,” Desmond said. "Another one is the firefighters are needing to do more training, more hours, they need to be firefighters one and second standards across the board."
For volunteers like Beckler, that could be difficult to complete.
"A lot of the programs that are offered throughout the state are offered during the normal working day so my people either have to take vacation time or personal time off and that poses a huge problem," Beckler said.
The National Volunteer Fire Council echoes these concerns.
"The funding does not exist," NVFC Chief of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Ryan Woodward, said. "We have a lot of departments that have a budget of 5-10 thousand dollars. OSHA anticipates 15 thousand dollars on average for cost and I even think those numbers are underestimated."
With cuts to grant programs, getting funding poses an even greater challenge.
"What are the safety nets or additional funding that support this and that comes in the form of AFG and SAFER grants. Well, congress just cut grants by 10 percent this year," Woodward said.
A shared sentiment is more time.
"We have sent in a request to them both from the Maine chiefs and the Maine fire federation, that if they can give us a 10-year period," Desmond said. "To get to that level, it’s going to take time."
On Wednesday, Maine Representative Jared Golden, along with 41 other members of Congress submitted a letter to OSHA saying its proposed new rules are unattainable and could force small town departments to close.
Public comments for the Emergency Response Standard are open until June 21, but there is a push to have the period extended another 90 days.