Warnick pushes protections for volunteer firefighters

One District 13 lawmaker is looking to help volunteer firefighters in the state through a bill introduced during this year’s state legislative session.

Senate Bill 5384 would modify the state’s definition of a volunteer firefighter and remove the provision that requires a firefighter to receive no pay from an employer when responding to a fire, natural disaster or medical emergency, according to the bill’s text.

A volunteer firefighter would be defined as a person who performs duties assigned or authorized by fire district personnel, according to the bill’s text. The firefighter is also someone who has been ordered to remain at the scene of the fire.

Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, is SB 5384’s primary sponsor. Warnick said during a virtual legislative hearing Monday her district was hit hard by wildfires last fall.

“The impetus for this bill came out of Lincoln County,” Warnick said. “We had volunteer firefighters who could not leave their place of employment to help fight the fires because of certain restrictions by their employers.”

SB 5384 would allow volunteer firefighters to respond to situations they are needed in, Warnick said, as long as they notified their employer about their firefighter status beforehand.

Warnick said there was a time when one of her staff members, who is a volunteer firefighter, had to fight a grassland wildfire all night. The next morning, the staff member showed up to work tired.

“She tried to work the next morning, but her eyes were red,” Warnick said.

Warnick paid the staff member for that workday and told her to return home. She said state agencies should be able to do the same thing for their volunteer firefighters.

With SB 5384, Warnick said she hopes it would attract more volunteer firefighters and help them get paid when they need to respond to a call.

“We are losing volunteer firefighters … and we need more,” Warnick said.

Senators had not voted on SB 5384 as of Monday.