Number of Volunteer Firefighters Continues to Grow in Oklahoma

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Nearly 500 new volunteer firefighters have joined Oklahoma rural fire departments in the four years after legislation passed that eliminated the age limit for new volunteers.

Oklahoma House Majority Leader Mike Sanders (R-Kingfisher), who sponsored the legislation, has announced that under a new law that goes into effect today, House Bill 2051, the volunteer firefighter numbers will continue to increase.

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.

Sanders also sponsored House Bill 2051, which was passed and signed into law this year. It 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.

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, according to Sanders.

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.

Source: Oklahoma House of Representatives

Topics Legislation Oklahoma

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