(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.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §449.1 adopted to be effective February 26, 2015, 40 TexReg 831; amended to be effective November 18, 2018, 43 TexReg 7557; amended to be effective May 20, 2019, 44 TexReg 2464 |