ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. — Volunteer firefighters in Roane County can continue responding to calls for service, even though concerns swirled recently about possible insurance issues in the county.
The county said it self-insures worker's compensation claims up to $450,000. For claims exceeding that amount, insurance policies kick in to continue paying injured firefighters. A letter from Roane County leaders said that while renewing those insurance policies for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the county learned that it could not include volunteer firefighters.
The county said that including them would cost $37,000 extra. In the letter, the county said it felt the cost was exorbitant and it was accepting an "unacceptable level of liability by continuing to cover medical claims" for firefighters without an additional insurance policy.
The county said it "has no idea who we are insuring and thus no ability to manage these volunteers." It also said, "The county has no control over the training the firemen receive or if they have the proper protective equipment provided to them."
The letter recommended that volunteer fire departments buy their own worker's compensation policies. It specifically said Blair Volunteer Fire Department has a policy costing around $600 per year.
"We've been working since July 1 to try to resolve the issue," said Tim Suter, the county's emergency management agency director. "The same insurance agent let us know that the volunteer departments could purchase their worker's comp policies for $600 per department. So, $37,000 versus $600 per department — with the insurance company questioning why we were covering the volunteer fire departments."
Ultimately, he said the county would ask volunteer fire departments to purchase their own supplemental worker's compensation insurance.
"They're all nonprofit companies. They can purchase any insurance they want on the market. It doesn't inhibit their ability to respond to calls. I was told before the county commission meeting tonight that all of our volunteer fire departments had secured policies," said Suter.
He said departments could choose to add on different kinds of coverage as well, helping cover injured firefighters' lost wages and pay for medical expenses.
Michael Curtis, the chief of the South Roane County Volunteer Fire Department, said Monday that crews would continue responding to calls while the insurance issues are resolved. He also said the department recently purchased supplemental insurance.
"They didn't budget for it. It was an oversight, I guess on their part because we've never had to pay for it in the past. We definitely didn't budget for it. So, I guess it kind of makes us feel like a mushroom, and you know what they feed mushrooms and where they keep us in the dark. No other communications or, 'You need to do this,' if they knew about it," he said.