OSHA proposes new standards, putting pressure on rural fire departments | News [Video]

RAPID CITY S.D. – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a legal requirement that firefighters meet National Fire Protection Association safety standards.

The rules would require physical exams for all firefighters, who would also be monitored after responding to 15 calls involving byproducts of combustion.

Some officials say the new requirements would be particularly hard on volunteer fire departments, especially when it comes to budgeting and staffing – two areas where many rural departments are already struggling.

“It’s just going to take more and more time and what we’re going to see is people don’t have that time already,” said Chief Jeremy Walla of the Whispering Pines Volunteer Fire Department. “They’re just going to say, ‘I can’t do it, I can’t put the time in and I can’t be on the fire department anymore,’ because we already see it.”

Chief Walla said many of their new firefighters …