Injured Mississippi Volunteer Firefighters Face Financial Woes

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When Leakesville, Mississippi volunteer firefighter Scottie Holland was injured in January, it could have crippled him physically and financially.

“They had been called out to a structural fire. He was pulling the hose, and it got caught on something and jerked him down,” his wife, Wanda, said. “He broke his right leg about three inches above the ankle and was out of work for three months.”

Scottie Holland, 55, moonlights as a volunteer firefighter and first responder but earns his living as a small engine technician. After the injury, he discovered he wasn’t eligible for workers’ compensation or unemployment.

The Hollands say they were lucky that fellow volunteer firefighters, their church and the community stepped in to help with the medical bills while they did without his regular paycheck for three months, amounting to about $9,000 in lost income.

Such experiences have prompted state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney to push for disability insurance for Mississippi’s more than 13,000 volunteer firefighters. The insurance would pay the salaries of volunteers who are hurt while extinguishing blazes and can’t work their regular jobs.

“Ninety-nine percent of our volunteer firefighters work full time or work more than 30 hours a week,” Chaney said. “Sometimes, they may be eligible for workers’ comp, but that only pays a minimum amount. And in Mississippi, we have one of the lowest rates in the country.

“If they risk their lives to protect their communities, we should guarantee their income for at least a year if they’re injured,” he said.

Chaney said he probably will pitch legislation next year that would create state-paid disability insurance. However, his office is not yet saying how much it could cost taxpayers.

“We are working with several folks in the insurance industry who are trying to get us an estimate and make projections,” State Fire Coordinator Larry Boyd said.

But with 129 cities and 509 rural areas served only by volunteer fire departments, disability insurance would be less expensive than establishing full-time, career departments in their places, Boyd said.

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant said he supports the idea in principle but expects funding to be an obstacle. This spring, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the budget-writing panel, cut hundreds of millions from the current fiscal year’s budget and the next.

“As a former volunteer firefighter, I support their notable contributions to the community,” Bryant said. “I look forward to further discussing with Commissioner Chaney his initiative.”

Several states provide some sort of wage replacement for volunteer emergency responders through their workers’ compensation programs or private insurance.

Virginia provides wage replacement for injured volunteers as part of its workers’ compensation program at a rate of $151.50 per week for up to 500 weeks, according to a report published in 2000 by the State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance.

Colorado has contracted with a private insurance company to provide accidental death, dismemberment and disability insurance for its volunteer firefighters. According to the state’s Department of Local Government Affairs Web site, the accidental death and dismemberment benefit will pay $25,000 to $250, depending on the severity of the loss, while the total disability benefit will pay $100 a week up to 104 weeks.

The insurance costs Colorado about $30,000 a year and covers about 10,000 volunteers, department representative Bret Hillberry said.

Hinds County has 12 volunteer fire departments, including in Bolton, Byram, Edwards, Raymond, Terry and Utica. The county provides workers’ compensation that covers the firemen’s medical bills if they are injured on the way to a fire, at the fire and on the way back home or to the station, Hinds County fire coordinator Larry Fisher said. Workers’ compensation, however, does not pay lost wages.

“Workers’ comp is very beneficial, but if a volunteer is out for an extended period of time, insurance would help more,” he said.

Workers’ compensation also does not apply to new volunteer recruits. To be a volunteer firefighter in Hinds County, a recruit has to be at least 18, complete a minimum of 40 hours training and pass a probationary period ranging from six months to a year. After the probationary period, the volunteer is covered by workers’ compensation, Fisher said.

Byram volunteer firefighter Joey Perkins said only a few of the department’s 40 members are retired. The rest work outside jobs.

“We’ve got pastors, mechanics, people who are self-employed. All kinds,” he said. “I work for the county, and I’m lucky because I have leave built up that I could use if I were hurt. But many of the others don’t.”