2002 Fire Service Day: The Arrowhead Shows Up in Force

February 7, 2002 — Nearly 50 firefighters from the Arrowhead Region traveled to St. Paul to meet with state lawmakers about the issues that concern the Minnesota Fire Service. "We doubled the number of participants from our region," said Arrowhead President Bob Brown. "The Arrowhead certainly showed up in force!" Firefighters spent the day talking one on one with lawmakers on three major issues: Fire/EMS Emergency Preparedness, the Fire Resistive Cigarette and firefighter illnesses. "We need to restore our state Haz Mat teams to their original status, especially now in wake of September 11th," stated Minnesota State Fire Chiefs' Association Vice President Jeff Juntunen of Esko. "It is very important that our lawmakers get this message. We were told last year not to worry about possible cuts in these teams and we eased up on our position. Then, when all was said and done, these valuable teams were chopped. We can't afford to wait to have a Haz Mat team coming out of the Twin Cities Metro area. We need to have those regional teams."

The Fire Resistive Cigarette issue, which came up during last year's legislative session, was again emphasized to lawmakers. "Two years ago, we had a fire death in Chisholm and the cause was a cigarette," said Bob Brown, as he talked to State Representative Tony Sertich of Chisholm. "We have lost many others in the state and we need to address this matter."

The firefighters also stressed that something has to be done to make sure that workers' compensation benefits are not withheld from firefighters as they go through the process of seeking benefits, especially when illnesses may or may not be related to their firefighting activities. "We've had people going through this process for years and ending up broke and destitute," said Erik Jankila, who represents the Hibbing firefighters' union. "Those who get involved in the workers' compensation system have to hire an attorney right away on even the simplest of claims because the insurer denies coverage without providing the documentation required. It's just not fair!"

The Arrowhead group also confronted at least one area lawmaker on a recent legislative move to ease up on the laws governing fireworks use. "The sad part of this whole story is that many of the fireworks injuries involve young children and that's disheartening," said Fire Wire Editor Peter Makowski. "We want to protect children!" For the time being, the fireworks issue appears to be dead, at least in the Minnesota Senate. As for the House, a number of lawmakers, including at least one Iron Range legislator, remain determined on changing the law. The Minnesota Fire Service strongly opposes any move to make personal fireworks use legal.