LEBANON, Tenn. — A proposal to ban firefighters from stopping to eat while on the job is dead.
WKRN reported that the city council voted to kill the resolution Tuesday night after the public and Lebanon (Tenn.) Fire Department members made their opposition.
The resolution was sponsored by Councilwoman Kathy Warmath, who said she didn’t know until yesterday that a 2013 policy already deals with the same issue; she voted down her own resolution.
The 2013 policy was created by the mayor and Fire Chief Chris Dowell that says firefighters can get food if it’s in their response area. It also says they’re responsible for any damage to the equipment.
"[Warmath] wrote it. She didn’t get my input. She has nothing else to do with it anymore. It’s just me and the mayor,” Chief Dowell said. “If she wants to tweak it, she can come down to my office and I can put a few things on paper for her.”
Warmath said she never meant to keep firefighters from eating, but instead hoped to protect the expensive equipment they drive.
“The big thing to discourage is to roll out the heavy equipment just for the sake of going out for lunch,” she said. “That was the intent from the beginning. The end.”