Commission: means the commission on firefighting personnel standards and education created by this chapter. See Tennessee Code 4-24-201
Fire department: means a department of a municipality, county, or political subdivision, or an organization, agency, or entity that offers its services, for or without pay, for the purpose of suppressing fires, performing rescue services, or for other emergency response purposes. See Tennessee Code 4-24-201
Firefighter: means a person in the employ of a unit of government fire department that is registered and recognized by the state fire marshal and is required to extinguish and control fires or fire-related incidents. See Tennessee Code 4-24-201
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Volunteer firefighter: means a person who volunteers with a county, municipal, or nonprofit fire department that is registered and recognized by the state fire marshal and who is required to extinguish and control fires or fire-related incidents. See Tennessee Code 4-24-201
(1) A fire department with employed firefighters who successfully complete in each year an in-service training course, appropriate to the firefighter‘s rank and responsibility and the size and location of the firefighter’s department, of at least forty (40) hours duration at a school certified or established by the commission is entitled to receive a pay supplement of eight hundred dollars ($800) from the commission to be paid to the firefighter in addition to the firefighter’s regular salary.(2) A fire department with volunteer firefighters who successfully complete in each year an in-service training course, appropriate to the volunteer firefighter‘s rank and responsibility and the size and location of the volunteer firefighter’s department, of at least thirty (30) hours duration at a school certified or established by the commission is entitled to receive payment of six hundred dollars ($600) from the commission to be paid to the volunteer firefighter in addition to the volunteer firefighter’s other compensation.(3) A person is only eligible to receive payment under subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2), whichever is greater, for successful completion of the person’s annual in-service course.(b) Any or all firefighters shall be eligible for such educational incentive upon satisfactory completion, as determined by the commission, of forty (40) hours of such training in each year.(c)(1) Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, any firefighter who served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States during either the Desert Storm or Desert Shield Operations shall receive the cash salary supplement provided pursuant to this section, if such service prevented such firefighter from attending the in-service training program pursuant to this section. The provisions are retroactive in application.(2) In addition, any firefighter who served or serves on active duty in the armed forces of the United States during Operation Enduring Freedom or any other period of armed conflict prescribed by presidential proclamation or federal law that occurs following the period involving Operation Enduring Freedom shall receive the cash salary supplement provided pursuant to this section, if such service prevented or prevents such firefighter from attending the in-service training program pursuant to this section.
