State of Illinois - Legislation & Regulation Lane 6a

Description / Link / Summary /
The state laws and statutes that fire departments use when organizing and maintaining a fire department. / http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=872&ChapterID=15&Print=True / Illinois Fire Protection District statutes. /
/ http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1643ChapterID=38&Print=True / Illinois Volunteer Fire Protection Association Act. /
/ http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=006500050Hart+11+prec+Div+6&ActID=802&ChapterID+14&SeqStart+141200000&SeqEnd=144100000 / Illinois Municipal Code-Fire Department Organization. /
The state agency that provides regulatory oversight of the Fire Department / http://www.sfm.illinois.gov/ / Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal /
State agency and/or statute having oversight of fire training. / http://www.sfm.illinois.gov/ / Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal /
State agency and/or statute, which determines responsibility for fire investigations. / http://www.sfm.illinois.gov/ / Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal /
/ http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1633ChapterID=38 / Illinois Fire Investigations Act /
State incentives for volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention. / N/A / Some statutes are provided to protect volunteer firefighters who leave work for emergency incidents. /
State agency, statute or rule that provides the state fire safety and building code. / http://www.sfm.Illinois.gov/ / The Office of the State Fire Marshall is responsible for fire safety enforcement and building/life safety code adoption in jurisdictions that have not adopted code. Municipalities and Fire Protection Districts may adopt code at the local level and are then therefore required to enforce. /
State regulations, if any, on volunteer compensation. / N/A / There are no existing regulations in Illinois that outlines volunteer compensation beyond tax code requirements. /
State workers compensation regulations that address the unique circumstances of a volunteer firefighter who has been injured while serving as a volunteer. / http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2430&ChapterID=68&Print=True / Volunteer firefighters in Illinois are covered under the Illinois Workers Compensation Act. Benefits for volunteer firefighters, police, and civil defense members or trainees are based on the AWW earned in their regular employment if the claim arises under the Workers’ Compensation Act. /
/ http://www.iwcc.il.gov/handbook062811.pdf / Illinois Workers Compensation Commission Handbook (see pg. 24) /
State rules in place regulating structure burns for training purposes. / N/A / All training burns are subject to Illinois Environment Protection Agency (IEPA) burn permit requirements, including training burns, which require asbestos testing and historical society research. Often the costs and requirements make the process prohibitive to the local fire departments. /
State statutes and/or regulations that create impediments to volunteer fire service organizations. / N/A / There exists no real impediments in the statutes or regulations; however, there are no real incentives either.
We need more incentives to entice people to volunteer:
A statewide or national LOSAP similar to other nearby States.
Reimbursement to volunteers for time spent away from jobs to attend education certification. Give people a real reason to start and stay and don’t get into their pocket while training to be better. /
Additional information provided that might be beneficial to understanding the make-up and challenges of volunteer emergency service organization. / N/A / There are over 1,200 fire departments in Illinois with over 90% being volunteer/combination design.
In 2006 the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association – Volunteer and Combination Officer Committee conducted a survey of all fire departments in our State. We had a 33% return on the survey. 311 departments responded total with 290 being volunteer/combination or volunteer with paid chief.
Of the 290 volunteer/combination, nearly half had a budget of less than $200,000.00.
61% indicated recruitment as their greatest challenge while 55% indicated recruitment.
The greatest challenge facing our volunteer emergency services is of course funding. Many departments cannot afford new equipment and some have cited this as a reason for low recruitment and retention.
In our 2006 survey, many respondents indicated that there should be some state incentive for volunteering; others stated that lack of funding capabilities leads to low retention, i.e. many new volunteers will not stick around when the department cannot afford to properly train them or provide safe equipment. /