Fire departments across the state are working to amend a 2005 state law that says that drivers of their trucks are permitted to drive to the scene of an emergency without a certified commercial driver’s license, but not back from the scene of the emergency.
According to Fuller Road Fire Department Chief Kevin Terry, the restrictions of the law have just begun coming to light after an attorney in Suffolk County released their interpretation of the law last month that shows the drivers are not permitted to drive back without the commericial driver’s license.
Terry said the Fuller Road Fire Department has had to change some of its operational policies around the law, after he had just learned of it last week, and that one of the changes involves the fire department remaining in service until returning back to the department, as not to be off the emergency call until they have returned.
For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com, or read the Wednesday, Feb. 25 print edition of the Colonie Spotlight.`