§ 3 — Definitions

§ 3. Definitions. As used in this chapter:\n 1. "Volunteer firefighter" means an active volunteer member of a fire\ncompany.\n 2. "Fire company" means:\n a. A fire company of a county, city, town, village or fire district\nfire department, whether or not any such company has been incorporated\nunder any general or special law,\n b. A fire corporation incorporated under or subject to the provisions\nof article ten of the membership corporations law, which is not included\nwithin paragraph a above, if such corporation is by law under the\ngeneral control of, or recognized as a fire corporation by, the\ngoverning board of a city, town, village or fire district, or\n c. A fire corporation incorporated under, or established pursuant to\nthe provision of, any general or special law, which is not included\nwithin paragraphs a and b above, if such corporation is by law under the\ngeneral control of, or recognized as a fire corporation by, the\ngoverning board of a city, town, village or fire district or Indian\nreservation. Any district corporation which has the general powers of\nand operates as a fire district shall be considered as a fire district\nfor the purposes of this chapter. A "fire department" may be composed of\none or more fire companies.\n 3. "Line of duty" means the performance by a volunteer firefighter as\na volunteer firefighter of the duties and activities described in\nsubdivision one of section five of this chapter and the same such duties\nand activities performed for a specialized team established pursuant to\nthe provisions of section two hundred nine-bb of the general municipal\nlaw for which the volunteer firefighter does not receive any\nremuneration or a gratuity and shall be deemed to include any date of\ninjury as determined by the workers' compensation board pursuant to the\nprovisions of section forty-one of this chapter. The following shall not\nbe deemed to be remuneration or a gratuity: receipt of a training\nstipend as outlined in section two hundred-aa of the general municipal\nlaw; reimbursement of expenses for meals, lodging and actual and\nnecessary travel; the receipt of a mileage allowance in lieu of travel\nexpense; reimbursement of expenses for registration and tuition fees\npayable under section seventy-two-g of the general municipal law, and\nthe acceptance of transportation, food, drink, shelter, clothing and\nsimilar items while on duty or engaged in such activities.\n 4. "Injury" includes any disablement of a volunteer firefighter that\nresults from services performed in line of duty and such disease or\ninfection as may naturally and unavoidably result from an injury.\n 5. "Child" includes a posthumous child, a child legally adopted prior\nto the injury of the volunteer firefighter; and a step-child or\nacknowledged child born out of wedlock dependent upon the deceased\nvolunteer firefighter.\n 6. "Surviving spouse" means the legal spouse of a deceased volunteer\nfirefighter, but shall not include a spouse who has abandoned the\ndeceased. The term "abandoned", as used in this subdivision, means such\nan abandonment as would be sufficient under section two hundred of the\ndomestic relations law to sustain a judgment of separation on that\nground.\n 7. "Dependent" includes a surviving spouse entitled to receive\nbenefits under this chapter, whether or not actually dependent upon a\nvolunteer firefighter, unless a contrary meaning is clearly intended.\n 8. "Earning capacity", except as herein provided, means:\n a. The ability of a volunteer firefighter to perform on a five-day or\nsix-day basis either the work usually and ordinarily performed by him or\nher in his or her remunerated employment or other work which for any\nsuch worker would be a reasonable substitute for the remunerated\nemployment in which he or she was employed at the time of his or her\ninjury, or\n b. The ability of a volunteer firefighter to perform on a five-day or\nsix-day basis either the work usually and ordinarily performed by him or\nher in the practice of his or her profession or in the conduct of his or\nher trade or business, including farming, and from which he or she could\nderive earned income or other work which for any such person would be a\nreasonable substitute for the profession, trade or business in which he\nor she was engaged at the time of his or her injury.\n Every volunteer firefighter shall be considered to have earning\ncapacity and, if the provisions of paragraphs a and b above are not\napplicable in any given case, the workers' compensation board, in the\ninterest of justice, shall determine the reasonable earning capacity of\nthe volunteer firefighter with due regard to the provisions of such\nparagraphs and the work he or she reasonably could be expected to obtain\nand for which he or she is qualified by age, education, training and\nexperience. The ability of a volunteer firefighter to perform the duties\nof a volunteer firefighter, or to engage in activities incidental\nthereto, may be considered in determining loss of earning capacity, but\nthe inability of a volunteer firefighter to perform such duties or to\nengage in such activities shall not be a basis of determining loss of\nearning capacity.\n 9. "State" includes all territory within the boundaries of the state\nof New York, including territory which has been or may hereafter be\nceded to the federal government or to the United Nations and territory\nwithin the boundaries of Indian reservations.\n 10. "Political subdivision" means a county, city, town, village or\nfire district.\n 11. "State fund" means the state insurance fund provided for in\narticle six of the workmen's compensation law.\n 12. "County plan of self-insurance" means a county plan of\nself-insurance under article five of the workmen's compensation law.\n 13. "Insurance carrier" means the state fund, the stock corporations,\nmutual corporations or reciprocal insurers described in subdivision nine\nof section thirty of this chapter, a county plan of self-insurance, or a\nself-insuring political subdivision. For purposes of this chapter, a\nnonprofit property/casualty insurance company which is licensed pursuant\nto subsection (b) of section six thousand seven hundred four of the\ninsurance law shall be deemed a stock corporation and a nonprofit\nproperty/casualty insurance company which is licensed as a reciprocal\ninsurer pursuant to subsection (c) of section six thousand seven hundred\nfour of the insurance law shall be deemed a reciprocal insurer.\n 14. "Emergency" includes the search for persons and the search for,\nand attempts to recover or the recovery of, bodies of persons even\nthough it is possible or is known that all hope of life is gone.\n 15. "Fund raising activity" means a method of raising funds to\neffectuate the lawful purposes of a fire company, but shall not include\nany method prohibited by the state constitution or the penal statutes of\nthis state, public fireworks displays unless conducted in compliance\nwith section 405.00 of the penal law. Such term "fund raising activity"\nshall not include drills, parades, inspections, reviews, competitive\ntournaments, contests or public exhibitions, described in paragraphs e\nand i of subdivision one of section five of this chapter, even though\nprizes are awarded at such events. Such fund raising activity must\ncomply with all the requirements of section two hundred four-a of the\ngeneral municipal law.\n 16. "Minor" or "infant" means a person who has not attained the age of\neighteen years.\n 17. The "workers' compensation rating board" or the "New York workers'\ncompensation rating board" shall have the meaning set forth in section\ntwo of the workers' compensation law.\n