Section 190. Fire fighting

The following activities involving fire fighting are prohibited:

1. Minors 16 years and 17 years of age shall not enter a burning structure.

The term "burning structure" as used in this restriction shall not include a structure which contains burning materials.

2. Minors 14 years and 15 years of age shall not participate in fire fighting or support activities at the fire scene, enter a burning structure, enter a structure which contains burning materials, or engage in any other activity prohibited in this chapter.

3. Minors under 14 years of age shall not participate in any activity related to fire fighting.

4. Exemptions. A county, city or town may authorize by ordinance that a 16 or 17 year old minor who resides in the Commonwealth, who is a member of a volunteer fire company, within that locality, with the approval of a parent or guardian, may seek certification under National Fire Protection Association 1001, level one, firefighter standards, as administered by the Department of Fire Programs, and, after attaining such certification, may work with or participate fully in all activities of the volunteer fire company. A local ordinance may not require minors who achieved certification under National Fire Protection Association 1001, level one, firefighter standards, as administered by the Department of Fire Programs, on or before January 1, 2006, between age 15 and 16, to repeat the certification after the sixteenth birthday.

A trainer or instructor of the aforesaid minors and any member of a paid or volunteer fire company who supervises any such minors shall be exempt from child labor law provisions in the Code of Virginia concerning cruelty and injuries to children, provided that the provisions of § 40.1-100 of the Code of Virginia have not been violated when the minor has been engaged in the activities of a volunteer fire company, and provided that either the volunteer fire company or the governing body of the county, city or town has purchased insurance that provides coverage for injuries to, or the death of, a minor in performing such firefighting activities.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR425-01-77 § 17, eff. October 15, 1979; rev. June 30, 1981; amended, Volume 24, Issue 23, eff. August 21, 2008.

Statutory Authority

§§ 40.1-6 and 40.1-100 of the Code of Virginia.