Volunteer firefighters in the county are fighting a different sort of battle - one that focuses on their rights and benefits as firefighters.

The founders of a statewide volunteer organization, the Volunteer Firefighters of Oklahoma (VFFO), spoke to about 20 county firefighters Monday night in Sallisaw in an effort to encourage them to form their own county firefighter association and join the VFFO.

Giving volunteer firefighters a voice in the state is the goal of VFFO, which hopes to get the benefits firefighters deserve, the founders said.

Ed Lemmings, Jim Copeland and Tim Lakins explained that volunteer firefighters in the central part of the state began the VFFO after realizing volunteer firefighters were under-represented in the state legislature. Copeland said currently the volunteers are supposed to be represented by the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association (OSFA), but they haven't found OSFA beneficial to volunteer firefighters, who make up the majority of the state's firefighters.

Lemmings said 87 percent of firefighters in the state are volunteers, while only 13 percent are paid firefighters. Lemmings said that paid firefighters do have a voice in the legislature and OSFA through the Professional Firefighters of Oklahoma (PFFO), while volunteers do not.

"We far outnumber the paid (firefighters), but we are receiving the least amount of benefits," Copeland, who is the fire chief in Okemah, said.

Copeland said OSFA represented volunteers and volunteers' needs in the past, but have not done so in the last several years.

"We need an organization that represents us and our needs," Copeland told the group. He noted that the VFFO will work with the OSFA and PFFO to further fire service in the state.

As members of the VFFO, rural departments would pay $20 per firefighter per year in dues. Those funds would pay the salary of an executive director, who would work as a liaison between volunteer firefighters and the state capitol.

The OSFA Opinion

Chris Bain, OSFA director, said the OSFA represents all firefighters in the state, including paid firefighters, volunteer firefighters and members of the PFFO. He noted that the PFFO is a union that represents professional firefighters.

"We have many paid firefighters who aren't in the union," Bain said.

Bain said if VFFO wants to be set up like PFFO, they should remember that PFFO members are members of OSFA.

"We'd love to have them be our members...to provide one unified voice at the capitol," Bain said. He said as one voice, they could get benefits for all firefighters in the state.

Bain said volunteer firefighters are represented by OSFA even if they aren't members. "They get to go along for the ride, so to speak," he said.

"I think they (VFFO) have good intentions, but they may be a bit misguided," Bain said. "They're a bit inexperienced at assembling the resources it takes to run a statewide organization."

Bain said if VFFO would put as much effort into repairing problems internally within the entire group, "there would be no telling what we could accomplish."

Bain realizes that the volunteers don't feel like the OSFA has been addressing their issues. Bain, who was hired last year, said the VFFO has invited him to their meetings.

"I am willing to work with them as much as the executive board allows me," he said. "I would expect them to offer me the same flexibility and allow themselves to work with me from the outside."

Bain noted the OSFA has a fire services committee, made up of 32 members that are being assigned to 17 regions of the state to attend county meetings and listen to requests. Those requests would be brought back to the OSFA's executive board.

He said they are also restructuring the volunteer firefighters caucus, which will be held Dec. 10 in Oklahoma City. He said that caucus allows volunteers to attend, voice opinions, network, and have training.

"I am making every attempt to rectify the problems of the past and change the things that I can - not only on a state and local level, but also on a national level," Bain said.

How VFFO Works

Lemmings said all the fire departments in the county would choose one firefighter to represent the group, and that county delegate would listen to the wants and needs of the group.

The county delegate would then join the rest of the delegates from the rural fire district, which in Sequoyah County's case is the Eastern Oklahoma Development District (EODD) and includes six other counties. Those seven delegates would vote on an executive board member to represent the district and who would meet with other board members from across the state, Copeland and Lemmings explained.

Executive board members across the state would meet with the VFFO executive director, who would be hired from organization dues, to find out what is going on in the state capitol and report those findings back to the network of rural fire departments.

"We're trying to get an organization formed where ideas come from you...not from an office in Oklahoma City," Copeland said.

Copeland said it doesn't matter if all seven counties in EODD come together. He said the participating counties can still elect an executive board member.

Lemmings and Copeland said, as an organization, they hope to have 11 executive board members in the state. The three men started forming the organization about nine months ago and so far 16 counties scattered across the state have joined.

The county firefighters who were present at the Monday night meeting chose to form an association and contact other departments in the county. Loyd Isley, volunteer firefighter with the Brent Volunteer Fire Department, was chosen as a representative for the county association on an interim basis. Marion Fair, also with Brent Fire Department, was chosen to be Isley's assistant.

Isley said he thinks being part of the VFFO is important, and he said they hope to have another meeting and get more county fire departments involved.

Purpose, Goals Of VFFO

Lemmings and Copeland said they have come to realize that there are common problems among departments.

Lemmings said the VFFO is a way to get one single voice for all volunteers in the state and is a way to come to a consensus and get their needs met.

Copeland said they also hope to get better pensions for volunteer firefighters, who currently only earn a little over $120 a month for their years as a firefighter after retiring. The group also hopes to tackle various other issues, such as tax incentives for employers of volunteer firefighters.

State Rep. Glen "Bud" Smithson (D-Sallisaw) stopped by the Monday meeting to voice his opinion about the benefits of a statewide organization.

Smithson said paid firefighters have good lobbyists, while volunteer firefighters have no representation. He said in the last legislative session, he and others tried to get funding for rural fire departments doubled, and if an organization such as VFFO existed, that may have happened. With the organization, more support for issues could be shown.

"Numbers are what they respect," Smithson said.

He said while the firefighters won't get everything they want, they will get more of what they want.

"We've got to start somewhere," Copeland said.