Does your Personal Vehicle's Insurance Carrier, know your are a Volunteer Firefighter with Lights/Sirens?

I and some others here at FFN have had an experience with personal vehicle damage while operating as a Volunteer Firefighter.

Sometimes the firefighters fault, other times it was clearly the fault of the other party. Regardless of fault, do you know if your personal insurance carrier requires you to report that you are running FD lights/sirens on your POV?

In my case, State Farm did require pre-notification and I didn't understand their policies... which was a very interesting discovery at a time of unease.

Well, do you know?

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Brough on December 29, 2008 at 6:47pm

You know, this is something that I haven't really been worried about, but it has me thinking now. I know for a fact that our cities insurance will not cover POVs in case of a fire related accident. I asked my insurance carrier (State Farm) when we bought our house, (I moved the vehicles to him too) if it mattered and if it was a risk if I had lights in my vehicles (In IN you only run Blue lights, no siren). He didn't seem to concerned, and actually told me the less he knew the better. You know, I am going to call him tomorrow and do some talking to see if I need to do anything else.

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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on December 29, 2008 at 8:16pm

FETC:
Got this in an email today. Yeah; I subscribe to LODD reports.
How would insurance companies sort this one out?
Volunteer Fire Chief Dies from Injuries Received when Privately Owned Vehicle Crashes into Bay Door Pinning him Against Fire Tanker – Wisconsin
SUMMARY

On July 23, 2008, a 76-year-old male volunteer Fire Chief (the victim) was fatally injured after being pinned between a bay door and a parked fire tanker when a pickup truck, unexpectedly, crashed into the bay door. The victim and fire department members had just returned from a structure fire and were in the process of refilling tankers when the victim went inside the fire station to write the fire report. Several fire fighters noticed an Assistant Chief’s pickup truck blocking the bay door for one of their tankers. After receiving permission, a fire fighter wearing his bunker pants and wet, rubber fire boots, backed the pickup truck at an angle to the adjacent bay, and was pulling forward when it accelerated suddenly. The pickup truck struck the bay door causing it to cave inward pinning the victim against a parked tanker. The victim was quickly removed from between the tanker and bay door, and taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include operating a vehicle while wearing wet, rubber fire boots; parking vehicles in a non-designated parking area, and lack of program oversight for privately owned vehicles used as emergency response vehicles.

NIOSH investigators concluded that, in order to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should:

* consider developing and implementing a policy prohibiting the wearing of rubber fire boots while operating a vehicle

* consider designating parking areas for vehicles

Additionally, fire departments and municipalities should:

* establish program oversight and vehicle inspection procedures for privately owned vehicles used in emergency response

Wow.
I had forgotten about this one until I got the NIOSH report.
TCSS.
Art

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Permalink Reply by FETC on December 29, 2008 at 8:39pm

I read that report too. Program oversight is a pretty vague word. Vehicle Inspection Procedures is kind of where I was going with insuring POVs. Honestly, volunteers are paid so well and all... how do we know a kids vehicle is ready for "safe" travel.

First off. Out of respect to the fallen, Godspeed. And to the survivors, my condolences as this tradgey must have been difficult for your department to go through. I was not looking to stir up the emotional pot for anyone involved.

I just wanted to open "the box" to stimulate other's thought on the subject matter.

TCSS
FETC