There are issues facing Maine families that unite state representatives regardless of political party. As a Republican from China and a Democrat from Belfast, the importance of supporting our local firefighters and their service to our community is one such issue.

Our joint efforts to finally fund critical safety improvements for training facilities for firefighters statewide is at a tipping point.

It’s time to finally have the backs of Maine’s firefighters and provide the funding they desperately need.

As chief of the China Village Fire Department and a proud member of a firefighter family, respectively, we share a devotion to Maine’s firefighters, who risk their lives to protect our families.

To become a firefighter, paid or volunteer, you must complete mandatory training, which includes hands-on, live fire training to prepare you to respond in the field.

Maine is one of a few states in the nation that has no central live fire-training facility for firefighters, and in fact, none of the regional training sites in Maine are owned or operated by the state.

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The newest live fire-training site was built more than 20 years ago, in 1995. According to the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission 2017 Regional Live Fire Training Facility Needs Report, no facility in Maine currently meets standards relevant to all of today’s firefighting needs. Every fire training facility in Maine needs ongoing structural maintenance and repairs.

And, there are only six training facilities that currently meet the bare minimum safety standards, meaning folks from rural Maine, including Kennebec and Waldo counties, are driving hours round trip to complete their training.

Our bill, L.D. 1845, “An Act to Provide Incentives to Attract Trained Firefighters to Maine and To Retain Trained Firefighters by Expanding the Provision of Live Fire Service Training,” would require the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission, housed within the Maine Community College System, to establish a grant program to provide funding for regional training facility improvements.

L.D. 1845 would also make an ongoing General Fund allocation of $1 million to the Maine Community College System’s Maine Fire Service Institute, which is already authorized to issue grants, beginning during the 2018/19 fiscal year.

Our legislation was passed unanimously by the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee and unanimously “under the hammer” in both the House and Senate. It now awaits funding approval on the Senate Special Appropriations Table.

We’re proud this legislation has received bipartisan support so far. It should.

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Firefighting is not only very challenging physically, it requires that firefighters train and sustain a vast variety of knowledge and skills. Just a few of the tasks Maine’s firefighters need to fully understand include water supply, hazardous materials, apparatus operation, and how differently constructed buildings react to different fire conditions.

Approximately 9,785 firefighters honorably serve the 1.33 million residents of Maine; this equals one firefighter for every 135 resident. These firefighters include full-time, per diem, volunteer, and on-call members.

Our bill to establish a $1 million annual budget for 10 years will give Maine firefighters 75 cents per citizen per year toward their training.

The importance of providing the funding to maintain the necessary infrastructure to effectively and safely train those firefighters cannot be overstated. Maine’s public safety systems, communities and families depend on our often overstretched and underfunded fire departments.

As Ken Desmond, president of the Maine State Federation of Firefighters, testified, “Studies have shown that access to convenient, professional, and certified fire training and certification reduces fire losses and injuries, improves moral, and supports recruitment and retention.”

It’s time to back up our support of Maine’s firefighters with the training funding they desperately need to stay safe while protecting our families.

We have neglected their needs for long enough.

Erin Herbig of Belfast is a Democratic state representative and House majority leader. Timothy Theriault of China is a Republican state representative.


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