§ 200 — Defining qualifications of exempt volunteer firefighters

§ 200. Defining qualifications of exempt volunteer firefighters. An\nexempt volunteer firefighter is hereby declared to be a person who as a\nmember of a volunteer fire company duly organized under the laws of the\nstate of New York shall have at any time after attaining the age of\neighteen years faithfully actually performed service in the protection\nof life and property from fire within the territory immediately\nprotected by the company of which he or she is a member, and while a\nbona fide resident therein, for a period of five years, as provided in\nthis article, or, if such company shall have been sooner disbanded upon\nthe organization of a paid fire department, for a period of at least one\nyear and shall also have been a member of such volunteer fire company at\nthe time it shall have been disbanded; but the limitation of one year's\nservice shall not apply to a volunteer firefighter who was a member of a\nfire company which was disbanded prior to January first, nineteen\nhundred two. The foregoing residence requirements shall not apply (1) to\na volunteer firefighter who has been duly elected to membership in his\nor her fire company as a non-resident member residing in territory which\nis afforded fire protection by his or her fire company pursuant to a\ncontract for fire protection, as authorized by paragraph three of\nsubdivision c of section fourteen hundred two of the not-for-profit\ncorporation law or by subdivisions two and three of either section\n10-1006 of the village law, section one hundred seventy-six-b of the\ntown law or section sixteen-a of the general city law, (2) to a\nvolunteer firefighter whose membership has been duly continued in his or\nher fire company as authorized by paragraph three of subdivision c of\nsection fourteen hundred two of the not-for-profit corporation law or by\nsubdivision five of either section 10-1006 of the village law, section\none hundred seventy-six-b of the town law or section sixteen-a of the\ngeneral city law and (3) to a volunteer firefighter who has been duly\nelected to membership as a non-resident as authorized by paragraph three\nof subdivision c of section fourteen hundred two of the not-for-profit\ncorporation law or by subdivision six of either section 10-1006 of the\nvillage law, section one hundred seventy-six-b of the town law or\nsection sixteen-a of the general city law. The foregoing requirement of\nfive years' service shall not apply to a volunteer firefighter serving\nas such at the time of his or her entry into the military service of the\nUnited States or of one of its allies in world war II, or during the\nperiod of hostilities as defined in subparagraph three or subparagraph\nfour of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section eighty-five of the\ncivil service law, who, as a result of such military service, shall have\nbecome incapacitated for performing the full duties of a volunteer\nfirefighter, or to a volunteer firefighter who, as the result of the\nperformance of his or her duties as such, shall have become likewise\nincapacitated, but any such volunteer firefighter shall be an exempt\nvolunteer firefighter even though he or she may have served as such for\na lesser period than five years, and he or she shall be entitled to a\ncertificate as provided in section two hundred two of this article\nwhich, in addition to the specifications contained in said section,\nshall set forth the facts in reference to his or her military service,\nif any, as aforesaid and that as a result of such military service, or\nas the result of service as a volunteer firefighter, he or she was\nincapacitated for performing the full duties of a volunteer firefighter.\nThe term "military service" as used in this section shall mean the same\nas the term "military duty" as used in section two hundred forty-three\nof the military law, except that it shall relate to service for an ally\nof the United States in world war II as well as to service for the\nUnited States.\n