37 Tex. Admin. Code § 449.1 - Minimum Standards for the Head of a Suppression Fire Department
(a) An individual who becomes employed and is
appointed as the head of a suppression fire department must be certified by the
commission as Head of a Suppression Fire Department within one year of
appointment. The requirements in this subchapter also apply to an individual
who is appointed on an interim basis to head of a suppression fire
department.
(b) Prior to being
appointed as the head of a suppression fire department, an individual must:
(1) hold a Texas Commission on Fire
Protection certification as fire protection personnel in any discipline that
has a commission approved curriculum that requires structural fire protection
personnel certification. The individual must have five years of experience in a
full-time fire suppression position or ten years in a part-time fire
suppression position at the time of appointment, or attain the required years
of experience within one year of the appointment; or
(2) provide documentation of accreditation
from the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress that is deemed
equivalent to the commission's approved basic fire suppression curriculum, and
provide documentation in the form of a sworn non-self-serving affidavit of five
years of experience in a full-time fire suppression position in a jurisdiction
other than Texas; or
(3) provide
documentation in the form of a sworn non-self-serving affidavit of ten years of
experience as an employee of a local governmental entity in a full-time
structural fire protection personnel position in a jurisdiction other than
Texas; or
(4) provide documentation
in the form of a sworn non-self-serving affidavit of ten years of experience as
an active volunteer fire fighter in one or more volunteer fire departments. The
ten years of volunteer service must include documentation of attendance at 40%
of the drills for each year and attendance of at least 25% of a department's
emergencies in a calendar year while a member of a volunteer fire department or
departments with ten or more active members that conducts a minimum of 48 hours
of drills in a calendar year; or
(5) document a combined total of five years
of experience using:
(A) full-time experience
while holding a commission certification as referenced in paragraph (1) of this
subsection; and
(B) provide
documentation in the form of a sworn non-self-serving affidavit of experience
as an employee of a local governmental entity in a full-time structural fire
protection position in a jurisdiction other than Texas as referenced in
paragraph (3) of this subsection, with two years of affidavit time counted as
one year of experience for purposes of this qualification; or
(C) provide documentation in the form of a
sworn non-self-serving affidavit of experience as an active volunteer fire
fighter and meeting the attendance requirements referenced in paragraph (4) of
this subsection, with two years of affidavit time counted as one year of
experience; or
(6)
document a combined total of five years of experience using:
(A) full-time experience while holding a
commission certification as referenced in paragraph (1) of this subsection; and
(B) documentation of accreditation
from the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress that is deemed
equivalent to the commission's approved basic fire suppression curriculum while
appointed to a full-time fire suppression position in a jurisdiction other than
Texas. Documentation of experience will be in the form of a sworn
non-self-serving affidavit; or
(7) document a combined total of five years
of experience using:
(A) documentation of
accreditation from the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress that
is deemed equivalent to the commission's approved basic fire suppression
curriculum while appointed to a full-time fire suppression position in a
jurisdiction other than Texas, with documentation of experience being in the
form of a non-self-serving affidavit; and
(B) provide documentation in the form of a
sworn non-self-serving affidavit of experience as an employee of a local
governmental entity in a full-time structural fire protection position in a
jurisdiction other than Texas as referenced in paragraph (3) of this
subsection, with two years of affidavit time counted as one year of experience
for purposes of this qualification; or
(C) provide documentation in the form of a
sworn non-self-serving affidavit of experience as an active volunteer fire
fighter and meeting the attendance requirements referenced in paragraph (4) of
this subsection, with two years of affidavit time counted as one year of
experience for purposes of this qualification; or
(8) document a combined total of ten years of
experience using:
(A) documentation in the
form of a sworn non-self-serving affidavit of experience as an employee of a
local governmental entity in a full-time structural fire protection position in
a jurisdiction other than Texas as referenced in paragraph (3) of this
subsection; and
(B) documentation
in the form of a sworn non-self-serving affidavit of experience as an active
volunteer fire fighter and meeting the attendance requirements referenced in
paragraph (4) of this subsection.
(c) Holding the Head of a Fire Suppression
Fire Department certification does not qualify an individual for any other
certification. An individual who seeks certification in another discipline must
meet the requirements for that discipline.
(d) Nothing contained in this chapter shall
be construed to supersede Chapter 143, Local Government Code, regarding
appointment as the head of a suppression fire department.
(e) Individuals certified as the Head of a
Suppression Fire Department must meet the continuing education requirement as
provided for in Chapter 441 of this title (relating to Continuing
Education).
(f) An individual
certified as Head of a Suppression Fire Department under this subchapter may
engage in fire fighting activities only as the head of a suppression fire
department. These activities include incident command, direction of fire
fighting activities or other emergency activities typically associated with
fire fighting duties, i.e. rescue, confined space and hazardous materials
response.
Notes
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