MISCELLANEOUS ACTIVITIES CATEGORY

One of the point system categories is Miscellaneous Activities. The state law provides:

​(vii)Miscellaneous activities—maximum fifteen points. Participation in inspections and other
activities covered by the volunteer firefighters’ benefit law and not otherwise listed—one point per
activity.

The three main criteria for an event to be a miscellaneous activity is:

1) It must be an activity. For example, you cannot give 5 points to a committee chairman under the miscellaneous activities category, since being the chairman is not an activity. You can give points for attending committee meetings, but not just to be the chairman.

2) The activity must be covered by VFBL. Sorry, softball games are not miscellaneous activities.

3) The activity must not be covered under another category. For example, if your department has more than 20 drills in a year, you cannot credit attendance at drills in excess of 20 as a miscellaneous point. A drill is a drill and cannot be a miscellaneous activity.

It seems reasonable for a sponsor to specify the activities that will be credited under this category, thereby giving some control over it and preventing the possibility for abuse. But generally, most sponsors leave the miscellaneous activities category open ended, and require just that the activity meet the statutory definition.