Using the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as a battering ram, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking aim at volunteer fire companies across Suffolk County and New York State.
OSHA introduced a new safety and health standard to replace the Fire Brigades Standard (1910.156), proposing 22 additional rules for all fire departments – volunteer, combination, and paid.
Local volunteer fire companies are now crying foul, claiming the cumbersome and costly federal mandates will cripple their cash flow and force them to close.
These include mandatory facility upgrades and increased training requirements that would break the backs of volunteer fire companies and cost New York taxpayers over $5 billion.
“If the OSHA rule as written goes into effect any volunteer company north of the Hudson will be out of business the next day,” said Bill Theis, Chairman of the Nassau/Suffolk Fire District Legislative Committee.
This unfunded mandate comes in the guise of safety and will apply to every volunteer fire department in New York despite the significant financial and operational limitations of these community-based volunteer fire departments.
The 608-page document released by OSHA outlining the proposed changes would incorporate costly health and safety standard mandates and expose municipal fire departments to litigation and costly settlements.
“These rules will make it even more difficult to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters,” said Joseph DeStefano, a commissioner with the Medford Fire District. “Without enough volunteers to perform critical emergency functions in our communities, departments will be forced to pay for these services. Long Island is barely affordable as it is thanks to government mandates like these. The OSHA rules could very well be the last straw.”
“The last thing our volunteer fire companies need is more unfunded mandates added to already financially stressed volunteer fire departments,” Theis said
How are paid firefighters and unions involved?
Not surprisingly, the Transportation Trades Department, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (TDD-AFLCIO) also referred to as America’s Transportation Unions, favor the new OSHA rules.
TDD said on X, “We welcome OSHA-DOL’s (Department of Labor's) updated safety and health standards for emergency responders, which better serve IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters) heroes and the communities they protect.”
It is widely believed that these rule changes are intended to price community-based, volunteer companies out of business and pave the way for union-backed, municipal fire departments to take over.
Bill Theis and Bill Biondi, Mastic Beach Fire District Commissioner, share the view with many of their colleagues that this effort is 100% driven by the paid municipal firefighters to drive volunteer fire companies out of business and have all of the fire companies be government-run.
Theis said, “This is entirely backed by the paid firefighters. They want these jobs to add to their rolls and it will be on the backs of the taxpayer in a big way.”
Biondi said, “The people making these rules are looking to turn them all into municipal jobs controlled by the government”.
How do volunteer fire companies save taxpayer funds?
If this rule goes into effect, a large financial burden will be passed to the already cash-strapped taxpayer. Right now there is a tax levy of about $150 per household for equipment for the volunteer firefighters but the time spent in training and responding to emergency calls is borne by the volunteer firefighters themselves.
There are about 10,000 volunteer firefighters in Suffolk County and 8,000 in Nassau County. The Terryville Fire Department, where Theis serves, fields about 4,500 calls a year. Multiply that by all of the volunteer fire departments across the state and nation and you have more hours and people than you can count.
Theis said, “Volunteer fire companies save the taxpayer roughly $5 billion a year in NY alone. That is just the salary that would otherwise be paid by the taxpayer.”
Theis points out that the $5 billion does not include associated benefits such as pensions and health care that substantially escalate the costs to the taxpayer for retirees in the out years.
The New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) issued a statement blasting the new federal mandates, saying, “This one size fits all approach could cripple already fiscally strapped departments and further negatively impact the recruitment and retention efforts of struggling volunteer fire departments. NYCOM fully supports measures that will protect responder safety. However, there needs to be a balanced approach that takes into consideration the realities of each department.”
What does the proposed OSHA rule do?
There are many changes proposed but the main ones are that every tire on a fire truck must be replaced, no matter their condition, every 7 years. Biondi said they just replaced 10 tires on a 100-ft tower ladder truck and that cost $8,000. Fire companies want to change tires when needed, but not based on an arbitrary rule.
Biondi said, “Keep in mind, every truck is certified and inspected every year and gets a NY Inspection sticker just like your personal car does. There are companies that specialize in inspections for emergency vehicles and certify their operational safety.”
Since all fire trucks get a state certification inspection every year that should be enough. If the tires were bad, it would be noticed at inspection and they would be changed out no matter how old they were. A seven-year rule mandate makes no sense.
Also, every fire truck would have to be replaced at 20 years regardless of condition. Again, if a vehicle is well maintained and passes inspection, why force a volunteer fire company to bear the cost of a new truck? If this rule goes through as is, the taxpayer will on the hook for potentially unnecessary equipment replacements.
The medical physical every volunteer firefighter goes through each year has also changed without any adequate explanation. The cost of an annual physical went up from $140 to $800 per person.
Further, the new OSHA rule would raise the required yearly training hours from 250 to 389. Theis said, “This will break the backs of their volunteers” many of whom already work two jobs to keep their families afloat. Theis said, “Remember that 250 hours is just training hours, that doesn’t include responses to calls that can happen at any hour of the day or night.”
What do Volunteer Fire Companies want?
First, they want the implementation of the OSHA rule delayed and the federal comment period extended.
Second, they are calling for New York Governor Kathy Hochul to implement an immediate moratorium. Volunteer firefighter associations want a Blue Ribbon Panel created to fully vet and discuss all of the proposed changes and create a plan that recognizes both appropriate changes to safety standards and is reasonable and respects the volunteer fire company’s service and capabilities.
They want to work with Commissioner Jackie Bray, New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Fire Districts Association, Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY), and the Fire Chiefs Association to work all of this out.
Calls statewide to reevaluate these rules and extend the public comment period have been made with no answer yet.
Why is this so important to local communities in New York and across America?
Volunteer fire companies are important to New York and the communities they serve. Over 75% of people surveyed want to keep their volunteer fire companies.
Volunteer fire companies don’t just save money for the taxpayer - $5 billion a year just in New York, they are community anchors and generational assets. Bill Theis’ firehouse for example is 150 years old. That is common in communities across New York where grandfathers, fathers, sons, and daughters have all served in their volunteer fire company.