Schrom v. Board for Volunteer Fire Fighters

¶34 These days, fire fighters are not just men with hoses in hand and Dalmatians at their side. Yet while the legislature has clearly indicated that fire fighter is defined more broadly, the majority resorts to the dictionary definition of “fire fighter” to interpret chapter 41.24 RCW and to deny the respondents’ request for relief. I would look to the broader statutory scheme and closely related statutory definitions first, not to the dictionary, to determine the legislature’s intent. See State v. Borrero, 147 Wn.2d 353, 375, 58 P.3d 245 (2002) (Sanders, J., dissenting) (even when engaging…