LIVERMORE FALLS – Maine Fire Marshal John Dean applauds selectmen’s enactment of a policy to get Fire Department officers certified, but clarified it is not his office that enforces federal and state training requirements.

Livermore Falls select board Chairwoman Louise Chabot had said in a story that ran Wednesday in the Sun Journal Franklin edition there are some towns in Maine that are under litigation after being investigated by the Office of the State Fire Marshal and found to be out of compliance.

That information came about through a misunderstanding.

“To be clear, there are no towns in Maine under litigation after being investigated by our office for any training or certification requirement violations,” Dean said.

If there is a serious injury or death, to either a firefighter or a civilian, at any fire or explosion, the Office of the State Fire Marshal does the investigation, Dean said.

He read the story in the Sun Journal about the policies after he received calls from people asking about it.

“While I applaud the board for adopting the new policy regarding the requirement that their officers be in compliance with state and/or federal training requirements, these requirements are not enforced by the Office of State Fire Marshal,” he said.

Training requirements were established by the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards, and the federal government requires training that is compliant with the National Incident Management System. The Maine Emergency Management Agency is helpful in arranging the training and much of it can be done on-line, officials said.

The Bureau of Labor Standards will investigate any on-the-job injuries or deaths to determine if training and procedural standards were met, Dean said.

“We do not get involved in that area. But I do know that one of the first things the Bureau of Labor Standards will ask for is the training records,” Dean said.

He told Chabot that new policy should serve them well.

The select board decided to be pro-active Dec. 15 and voted unanimously to adopt a policy requiring fire officers to be in compliance with required state and/or federal training in order to hold office, Chabot said.

“The policies still stand,” Chabot said Friday, of that policy and the one that prohibits those on the Livermore Falls Fire Department from serving on other departments at the same time.