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County may provide background check assistance for volunteer firefighters

The revelation that a convicted arsonist had been a member of a volunteer fire department in San Diego County may result in subsequent county action to make background checks for volunteer firefighters available to the volunteer departments.

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who also chairs the county’s Task Force on Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services, offered the idea during the task force’s January 25 meeting.

“It’s just something to be thinking about,” Jacob said. “It’s not intended to add another burden.”

Since the background check would be through the Sheriff’s Department, the approval of the Board of Supervisors would be required.

The volunteer fire departments wouldn’t be mandated to disqualify potential members convicted of certain crimes but would be aware of such criminal histories and would be able to make their own policies about prohibiting volunteers convicted of specific offenses.

“If we could know in our hearts that the guy’s all right, that would be a good thing,” said Dennis Sherman, the fire chief of the Mount Laguna Volunteer Fire Department.

The background check would not affect inmate firefighting camps, which are operated as a partnership between the California Department of Corrections and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“We know all about them before they come to the camps,” said CDF division chief Dave Nissen.

Nissen noted that prisoners with convictions for arson or certain violent offenses are not allowed to work at the firefighting camps.

Frank Twohy, the fire chief of Elfin Forest’s fire department, noted that in the past applicants have provided their own background reports from the Sheriff’s Office and the new policy would allow direct transmission of such background reports to the fire departments.

Twohy felt that any policy would be best left to individual departments, which would also allow labor groups to have input.

“Everybody can work these things out,” he said.

 

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