Amador County – The Amador Fire Protection District board moved toward paying full-time staff for part of their training, and discussed what classes and training would qualify for reimbursement.

The AFPD board, made up of Amador County Supervisors, met Tuesday, June 19 and directed staff to look at reimbursing full-time employees for classes, and to compile a list of classes that would qualify.

Supervisor John Plasse said it raises questions of whether every class in a bachelor’s degree in fire science is relevant to fire.

AFPD Battalion Chief Dave Bellerive said the classes must apply to fire to qualify for reimbursement for volunteers, in current policy. He said non-fire related basic class requirements for degrees, like English classes would not apply. He said it would be very difficult to establish a list.

Supervisor Vice Chairman Richard Forster said AFPD should get to the point of paying for training, not just 50%, as the volunteers are now reimbursed. Supervisors moved last week toward also getting full-time fire staff to get reimbursed for training and classes that qualify.

Supervisor Brian Oneto said: “I think I’d be a little reluctant to pay 100%.” Forster said based on what the chief discussed, all fire science is relevant. Bellerive said all personnel should be able to look at where fire has been and where it started, to help preserve the scene for investigations. He said fire fighters and engineers would not be investigating fires, but it would help them to preserve the fire scene and spot potential issues that could help the investigation.

Oneto said it depends on how deep they want to go. Forster said: “That’s why we need to come up with a list.”

Plasse agreed, saying: “Training should be paid for” and classes should be part of the personnel’s own upwardly mobile endeavors. He said they are reimbursing volunteers for these classes and he thought they should extend that to employees, but classes should be spelled out.

Oneto said a class should be allowed for reimbursement only as long as it directly pertains to firefighting. Bellerive said classes included auto extrication and driver operator classes, among others directly related to the jobs.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.