Maine Fire Fighter Death Benefits Broaden to Protect Families

March 17, 2010 – Thanks to the steadfast lobbying efforts by the Professional Fire Fighters of Maine (PFFM) and Lewiston, ME Local 785, Maine Legislative Document (LD) 1558, “An Act Regarding Accidental Death Benefits for the Beneficiaries of Deceased Firefighters,” will soon become state law. LD 1558 was passed by the House 143-0 and the Senate followed suit with a 33-2 vote. The legislation now is on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature.

“This is a great victory for all of Maine’s professional fire fighters and their families,” says PFFM President John Martell. “Now, if the worst happens, and we hope it doesn’t, we know our families will be protected.”

The bill provides an accidental death benefit to the family of a professional fire fighter who dies from cardiac or pulmonary disease in the line of duty within six months of fire fighter duty. The death benefit is retroactive to November 1, 2004.

“Unfortunately, we were not aware the law needed to change until the tragic death of one of our brothers – Roland Levesque,” says Local 785 President Rick Cailler. “Levesque died 48 hours after working a fire, but because of the language in the current, his family was ineligible to receive benefits.” Levesque died in 2004 of a heart attack 48 hours after a working fire and had 23 years on the job.

In the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, there are two types of death benefits. Ordinary is when the death occurs outside of employment or employment duties. Accidental death is when the person dies while on the job or during the course of employment. The benefits paid to beneficiaries are generally greater as the result of accidental death.

In Levesque’s case, his death was ruled ordinary, meaning the death was not in the line of duty, even though the board that hears workers compensation claims ruled that his death was in the line of duty. “We did some research and found out that very few deaths were ruled accidental unless the employee was ‘in the saddle,’ so to speak,” says Cailler.

Working in close partnership with the PFFM, Local 785 began lobbying in the state capital to create and pass LD 1558. Their efforts garnered bi-partisan support. In fact, the bill passed unanimously out of the state legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Labor before passing unanimously in the house and by significant majority in the senate.