Seeley Lake Fire Board
SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake Fire Chief Dave Lane informed the Seeley Lake Fire District Board about new membership incentives including identification cards and gym memberships at their Jan. 15 meeting. He also updated board members on his involvement with proposed legislation that would make Montana a part of the federal Heart and Lung Bill and the progress the Department has taken towards fulfilling their requirements should the legislation pass during the 2019 session.
Lane reported to the board that they currently have 22 active members. These members have been issued identification cards so they can prove that they are on the department. This allows them to take advantage of deals for firefighters and emergency responders that are offered by some businesses.
Lane told the board he is helping put together legislation for the 2019 Legislative Session so Montana can take advantage of the Federal Heart Lung Bill.
“What it does is protect the members of police and fire departments from heart and lung illnesses and injuries to benefit the families,” said Lane. “Because Montana hasn’t been doing that, the union has put together this legislative argument that we should become a part of the Heart Lung Bill.”
Lane said Montana is one of six states that does not have legislation to allow for these federal benefits. While Senate Bill No. 72 was proposed in 2017 that would have added Montana, it died in committee. Lane said it failed due to lack of information.
“I have a lot of information. I come for a state where we actually did that,” said Lane who added he also worked with crewmembers that qualified for federal benefits because Nevada was enrolled.
Lane said the Montana Fire Service is optimistic that the legislation will succeed so they can provide this benefit. He has been working towards bringing Seeley’s policies and procedures up-to-date so “the day that happens, we will be on board. We won’t have to create any more policies. We won’t have to do any of this other stuff because we are already doing it,” said Lane.
Part of the requirement to qualify for the federal benefit should the bill pass is fitness. Lane explained that there are ways to measure fitness and control habits that can be controlled, such as smoking.
“If the doctor tells you to quit smoking, you either quit smoking or you don’t qualify for the benefit,” said Lane.
Lane explained that cancers are not preventable and will be a presumed illness that happened on duty. If someone leaves the fire service, there will be a determined time period for coverage should they develop cancer in that time period. Slower progressing cancers may also be added to the bill.
“There are a lot of variables and there are a lot of things to discuss at the [three day] meeting [that I will be attending in February],” said Lane.
Lane said he has been working with the Seeley-Swan Medical Center to provide the physicals and test current volunteers’ fitness levels.
“It’s not a real in-depth physical. Right now we just need a baseline and the doctor can help [volunteers] recognize what [he/she] can control and what [he/she] can’t,” said Lane.
Lane said that the department has a wellness program and a part of that is offering gym membership to volunteers. The District pays for the membership as long as the volunteers use the gym at least eight times in the month.
“It is all part of the bigger picture to help us stand out,” said Lane. “We want people to be healthy and we want our department to set the standard for the state. I know we are ahead in a lot of parts because we are one of two departments in the state with a respiratory protection program. It’s exciting to me.”
There is one three-year trustee seat open for election in the May 7 Special District Election. The filing forms must be completed and returned to the Elections Office in the Missoula County Courthouse at 200 West Broadway by 5 p.m. Feb. 11. Filing forms are available at the Seeley Lake Fire Hall or the Missoula County Elections Office.
The next meeting is Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Fire Hall. For more information, minutes and the agenda visit seeleyfire.org
Reader Comments(0)