Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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July 14, 2011

Workers compensation premiums triple for local volunteer fire department

BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

SPANISHBURG — When the Bluestone Valley Volunteer Fire Department received a non-renewal notice from Brick Street Mutual Insurance Co., Fire Chief Tim Farley knew the department was in for some major challenges.

“Brick Street gave us a 60-day notice,” Farley said. “They have dropped all volunteer fire departments in the state. I contacted several local insurance companies that sell workers compensation insurance, but they don’t cover fire fighters. We’re considered high risk.”

The Bluestone Valley Volunteer Fire Department is located in a very rural part of Mercer County, but it’s the nearest fire department to I-77 at the southernmost base of Flat Top Mountain — a particularly high-accident portion of I-77.

“These guys get out in the middle of the night during snow storms, in flooding situations or in any kind of situation,” Farley said. “That’s what we do. There are a lot of things that go on that we respond to. We respond to car and truck wrecks for whatever reason, treat the victims on the scene, extricate if necessary and do whatever is necessary. Nothing is ever routine. We go out on hazardous material spills or even truck fires. Our goal is to save lives and save property.”

Farley said that it is difficult to ask volunteers who dedicate themselves to the countless hours of training, the calls at all hours of the day or night and the uncertainty of each emergency situation to be fund-raisers as well.

“Most of the guys have full-time jobs,” Farley said. “They come home after work and take care of their families, but when they get paged out, they drop everything they are doing to come out and help their community,” Farley said. “When you get paged out at 1, 2 or 3 a.m., and take care of the call, by the time you get clear, it’s time to go to work again.”

Farley said that most of the residents who live in Bluestone’s service area are retirees on fixed income, but the firefighters work to help them. The Bluestone firefighters have acquired the equipment and training, additional fire hydrants and new hoses to get the region’s ISO rating reduced from a Class 9 rating to its present Class 6 rating. “Most live pretty modest lives,” he said.

“We hold an annual ramp dinner as a fundraiser. The guys all seem to enjoy that, but we don’t make enough money at the ramp dinners to do anything more than pay for the bunker gear for one firefighter, Farley said.”

Farley was able to find workers compensation coverage for the Bluestone firefighters, but at a cost of three times the amount the department paid in 2010. “When we had Brick Street, we paid $800 for our workers compensation premium and the cost at the firm we have now is $2,600. We received another quote for $3,400, but we accepted the lower bid,” he said.

In addition to the higher insurance costs, Farley said the department is struggling with higher fuel costs for vehicles as well as heating. The department gets called out for everything from trees on the road to traffic control — calls that may seem routine, but tend to increase the department’s workers compensation liability. He also said that department volunteers are now required to take 110 training hours rather than the pervious 40-hours of training.

“We’re always fighting something,” Farley said.

Farley said Bluestone had an earlier starting date for its insurance premium than other volunteer fire departments in Mercer County. He said that Raleigh County has been working on passing a county levy that could raise funds to help volunteer fire departments address the unexpected cost increases. He said his board advised him to try to reduce fuel consumption and try to clear incidents as quickly as possible.

“I really don’t know what our community would do without a volunteer fire department. It would be a catastrophe,” he said.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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