The Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters Assistance Act
Testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary on H.R. 1787
The Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters Assistance Act
July 20, 2004
by Chief Philip C. Stittleburg
Chairman
National Volunteer Fire Council
Chairman Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member Conyers and members of the committee, my name is Chief Phil Stittleburg and I am Chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC). The NVFC represents the interests of the more than 800,000 members of America's volunteer fire and emergency services community, who provide staffing in over 90 percent of America's fire departments. I joined the volunteer fire service in 1972 and have been the Chief of the LaFarge Volunteer Fire Department in Wisconsin for the last 27 years. I have had experiences in all phases of the first responder community, including chemical and hazardous materials incidents, EMS, rescue and fire.
In addition to serving as the NVFC Chairman, I have represented the NVFC on a variety of standards-making committees, including ones that set industry standards on firefighter health and safety. I serve on the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Board of Directors and have just completed two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Fire Protection Association. I have also served as an adjunct instructor for the National Fire Academy. I earn my livelihood as an attorney, which includes serving as an Assistant District Attorney on a half-time basis for the last 30 years. These positions give me an excellent opportunity to serve and lend my expertise in a wide array of professions in the public safety arena.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), nearly 75 percent of our nation's firefighters are volunteers. In any given year, more than half of the firefighters that are killed in the line of duty are typically volunteers. In addition to the obvious contribution that volunteer firefighters lend to their communities as the first arriving domestic defenders, these brave men and women represent a significant cost saving to taxpayers, a savings sometimes estimated to be as much as $37 billion annually.
On behalf of our membership, I appreciate this opportunity to comment on H.R. 1787, the Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighter Assistance Act, which would limit the liability of companies and fire departments that want to donate surplus equipment to volunteer fire departments. This legislation, introduced on April 11, 2003 by Rep. Michael Castle (DE), has a bipartisan group of 66 cosponsors. The NVFC strongly supports passage of this legislation.
The fire service responds to nearly 21 million calls annually involving structural fire suppression, emergency medical response, hazardous materials incidents, clandestine drug labs, search and rescue, wildland fire protection, natural disasters and terrorism. Many of these incidents can damage America's critical infrastructure, including our interstate highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels, financial and agriculture centers, power plants, refineries, and chemical manufacturing and storage facilities.
Many of these responding departments are rural, volunteer departments that struggle the most to provide their members with adequate equipment to protect their communities. In these difficult times, while volunteer fire departments are already struggling to handle their own needs and finances, they are now forced to provide more services.
In recent years, the Congress has begun to respond to the enormous need in America's fire service by creating the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, created in 2000. To date the program has distributed over $1.1 billion to almost 16,000 fire departments across the country for apparatus, personal protective equipment, hazmat detection devices, improved breathing apparatus, wellness and fitness programs, fire prevention and education programs and interoperable communication systems. This is the basic equipment our fire departments need to effectively respond to all hazards. While we greatly appreciate this support, we feel the Congress can do more for the fire service at no additional cost to the taxpayers.
The volunteer fire service was built on a tradition of giving. Volunteer firefighters give hundreds and thousands of hours each year in service to their community. Moreover, well equipped fire departments have made it a tradition to give used equipment to those departments that are less fortunate or in dire need of equipment. However, in recent years, the fear of getting sued if the gear later turns out to be faulty has made these donors think twice about giving.
In fact, every year, quality fire equipment, including hoses, fire trucks, protective clothing and breathing apparatus, with an estimated worth in the millions of dollars, are destroyed instead of being donated to volunteer fire departments in order to avoid civil liability lawsuits. The fear of litigation has forced heavy industry and wealthier fire departments to waste surplus equipment, which in some cases has never been used to extinguish a single fire. They are chopped up or sent to the dump while volunteer fire departments remain in desperate need of quality equipment to protect themselves and their communities.
Consequently, volunteer firefighters must spend large amounts of time raising money, time that could be better used training for emergency responses. In addition, local taxpayers spend millions of dollars for operating expenses and for purchasing replacement equipment for their volunteer fire companies.
Congress can contribute by removing liability barriers that keep volunteer firefighters from receiving perfectly safe equipment. To be sure, this act takes measures to protect firefighters from faulty donated equipment by continuing to hold organizations liable if they act with malice, gross negligence, or recklessness in making the donation or are the manufacturer of the donated equipment. A donor may still be found liable under a negligence standard. Like other Good Samaritan laws, this bill proposes to raise the standard from negligence to gross negligence.
H.R. 1787 is modeled after state law that has been passed in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas. In fact, since this bill was signed into law in Texas in 1997, donations in excess of $10 million worth of equipment for volunteer fire departments has been distributed.
Prior to the law being put in place, large oil refineries such as Union Carbide with their own fire brigades would not make any donations to the volunteer fire departments in the communities in which they operate. They cut up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fire equipment and buried it so it could not be used and traced back to them. This is not an isolated situation. There are other instances where equipment is donated in a secret fashion and anonymously dropped off at a specific location with a blind eye turned.
While I understand there is limited case law against these types of donors, it is quite clear from my experience that the fear of these lawsuits is having a very real impact. It is our hope that passage of this legislation will send a clear signal to corporations and wealthier fire departments that they can donate their surplus fire equipment with a reduced risk of being sued for their act of kindness.
It is unfortunate that the fire service of our country is forced to search for serviceable used equipment to enable it to carry out its vital mission. However, until the day dawns when society accepts its role in providing proper support to those who protect them, legislation such as this will be necessary.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your time and your attention to the views of America's fire service, and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
The Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters Assistance Act
July 20, 2004
by Chief Philip C. Stittleburg
Chairman
National Volunteer Fire Council
Chairman Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member Conyers and members of the committee, my name is Chief Phil Stittleburg and I am Chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC). The NVFC represents the interests of the more than 800,000 members of America's volunteer fire and emergency services community, who provide staffing in over 90 percent of America's fire departments. I joined the volunteer fire service in 1972 and have been the Chief of the LaFarge Volunteer Fire Department in Wisconsin for the last 27 years. I have had experiences in all phases of the first responder community, including chemical and hazardous materials incidents, EMS, rescue and fire.
In addition to serving as the NVFC Chairman, I have represented the NVFC on a variety of standards-making committees, including ones that set industry standards on firefighter health and safety. I serve on the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Board of Directors and have just completed two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Fire Protection Association. I have also served as an adjunct instructor for the National Fire Academy. I earn my livelihood as an attorney, which includes serving as an Assistant District Attorney on a half-time basis for the last 30 years. These positions give me an excellent opportunity to serve and lend my expertise in a wide array of professions in the public safety arena.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), nearly 75 percent of our nation's firefighters are volunteers. In any given year, more than half of the firefighters that are killed in the line of duty are typically volunteers. In addition to the obvious contribution that volunteer firefighters lend to their communities as the first arriving domestic defenders, these brave men and women represent a significant cost saving to taxpayers, a savings sometimes estimated to be as much as $37 billion annually.
On behalf of our membership, I appreciate this opportunity to comment on H.R. 1787, the Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighter Assistance Act, which would limit the liability of companies and fire departments that want to donate surplus equipment to volunteer fire departments. This legislation, introduced on April 11, 2003 by Rep. Michael Castle (DE), has a bipartisan group of 66 cosponsors. The NVFC strongly supports passage of this legislation.
The fire service responds to nearly 21 million calls annually involving structural fire suppression, emergency medical response, hazardous materials incidents, clandestine drug labs, search and rescue, wildland fire protection, natural disasters and terrorism. Many of these incidents can damage America's critical infrastructure, including our interstate highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels, financial and agriculture centers, power plants, refineries, and chemical manufacturing and storage facilities.
Many of these responding departments are rural, volunteer departments that struggle the most to provide their members with adequate equipment to protect their communities. In these difficult times, while volunteer fire departments are already struggling to handle their own needs and finances, they are now forced to provide more services.
In recent years, the Congress has begun to respond to the enormous need in America's fire service by creating the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, created in 2000. To date the program has distributed over $1.1 billion to almost 16,000 fire departments across the country for apparatus, personal protective equipment, hazmat detection devices, improved breathing apparatus, wellness and fitness programs, fire prevention and education programs and interoperable communication systems. This is the basic equipment our fire departments need to effectively respond to all hazards. While we greatly appreciate this support, we feel the Congress can do more for the fire service at no additional cost to the taxpayers.
The volunteer fire service was built on a tradition of giving. Volunteer firefighters give hundreds and thousands of hours each year in service to their community. Moreover, well equipped fire departments have made it a tradition to give used equipment to those departments that are less fortunate or in dire need of equipment. However, in recent years, the fear of getting sued if the gear later turns out to be faulty has made these donors think twice about giving.
In fact, every year, quality fire equipment, including hoses, fire trucks, protective clothing and breathing apparatus, with an estimated worth in the millions of dollars, are destroyed instead of being donated to volunteer fire departments in order to avoid civil liability lawsuits. The fear of litigation has forced heavy industry and wealthier fire departments to waste surplus equipment, which in some cases has never been used to extinguish a single fire. They are chopped up or sent to the dump while volunteer fire departments remain in desperate need of quality equipment to protect themselves and their communities.
Consequently, volunteer firefighters must spend large amounts of time raising money, time that could be better used training for emergency responses. In addition, local taxpayers spend millions of dollars for operating expenses and for purchasing replacement equipment for their volunteer fire companies.
Congress can contribute by removing liability barriers that keep volunteer firefighters from receiving perfectly safe equipment. To be sure, this act takes measures to protect firefighters from faulty donated equipment by continuing to hold organizations liable if they act with malice, gross negligence, or recklessness in making the donation or are the manufacturer of the donated equipment. A donor may still be found liable under a negligence standard. Like other Good Samaritan laws, this bill proposes to raise the standard from negligence to gross negligence.
H.R. 1787 is modeled after state law that has been passed in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas. In fact, since this bill was signed into law in Texas in 1997, donations in excess of $10 million worth of equipment for volunteer fire departments has been distributed.
Prior to the law being put in place, large oil refineries such as Union Carbide with their own fire brigades would not make any donations to the volunteer fire departments in the communities in which they operate. They cut up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fire equipment and buried it so it could not be used and traced back to them. This is not an isolated situation. There are other instances where equipment is donated in a secret fashion and anonymously dropped off at a specific location with a blind eye turned.
While I understand there is limited case law against these types of donors, it is quite clear from my experience that the fear of these lawsuits is having a very real impact. It is our hope that passage of this legislation will send a clear signal to corporations and wealthier fire departments that they can donate their surplus fire equipment with a reduced risk of being sued for their act of kindness.
It is unfortunate that the fire service of our country is forced to search for serviceable used equipment to enable it to carry out its vital mission. However, until the day dawns when society accepts its role in providing proper support to those who protect them, legislation such as this will be necessary.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your time and your attention to the views of America's fire service, and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
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