The Senate Local Government committee gave unanimous support to a Republican measure intended to help fire departments recruit and retain volunteer firefighters--helping them secure health-care coverage. 

"Many of our state’s 250 fire protection districts rely on volunteer firefighters and there has been a decline in the number of those willing to volunteer," said bill sponsor Sen. Mike Kopp, a Littleton Republican. "By simply de-regulating the insurance market a little we can make a big difference on the cost of health care that our state's volunteer firefighters must pay.”

House Bill 1334 would allow volunteer firefighters to pool their numbers in order to buy affordable health insurance. The bill's advocates say many people are hesitant to become volunteer firefighters because of the high price and difficulty of finding insurance.  

“Volunteer firefighters are the backbone of our organization” Jamie Bumgarner, Fire Chief of the Larkspur Fire Protection District, told committee members. “This is a chance to make a difference, and to change the future (for volunteer firefighters) down the road."

The Larkspur Fire Department was on the front line of the 2002 Hayman fire, which destroyed 133 homes, and 467 other buildings southwest of Denver. The fire was the largest in Colorado's history. 

Kopp, a former "hot shot" forest firefighter himself, is joined in sponsoring the bill by Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee, whose foothills district includes the site of the Hi Meadow fire and Buffalo Creek fire in recent years.  The bill is part of a package of Republican bills and resolutions aimed at anticipating future wildfires and bolstering the work of community firefighting programs. The bills are part of the GOP legislative agenda for 2008.

Kopp and Witwer came up with the package because they say the issue hits too close to home to be ignored.  Kopp wants to take what he says is a lifetime of education on the subject of forest fires and put it to use for his foothills constituents. They are often in harm's way due to wildfires. 

"If the Hayman and Missionary Ridge fires taught us anything, it's that the threat is real, and the state needs to act decisively to mitigate the impact of future fires," Witwer said. "If we wait until tomorrow to act, it will be to late."