Connecticut enacted legislation that codifies the right of career firefighters to volunteer during off-duty hours. The bill, An Act Concerning Volunteer Service by Paid Emergency Personnel or Paid Firefighters (H.B. 5646), received final legislative approval on May 7, became a public act on May 19, and was formally signed during a ceremony June 9, the National Volunteer Fire Council reports.

Several years ago when the city of Hartford and the Hartford Fire Fighters Association reached an agreement prohibiting city firefighters from volunteering in their hometowns during personal time. In 2003, National Volunteer Fire Council Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg wrote to Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez expressing his concern over the anti-volunteer provision.

"I feel that the city of Hartford has unknowingly been used to further promote the firefighter union’s organized campaign against the volunteer fire service aimed at destroying our ranks in the hope of increasing union membership and power,” Stittleburg wrote. “As this campaign expands, the results will be devastating to the protection of communities in suburban and rural areas in Connecticut and across America.”

The new law bars municipalities from entering into a collective bargaining contract that prohibits paid emergency personnel, including firefighters, from serving as active members of a volunteer fire department during off-duty hours. It also directs the state fire administrator to develop model guidelines for municipalities with paid emergency personnel and municipalities with volunteer emergency personnel to develop agreements authorizing career personnel to volunteer.

“Both our career and volunteer firefighters are among Connecticut’s bravest public servants and an integral part of our communities,” State Rep. Sandra Nafis, the sponsor of H.B. 5646, told NVFC. “We’re pleased to have received the overwhelming support of the legislature to insure that our career firefighters have the choice to continue to serve as volunteer firefighters and support their communities.”