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About
Benefits
All
active volunteer members of a fire company or
fire department of a county, city, town, village or fire district are
eligible for weekly cash payments, medical, podiatry, chiropractic,
rehabilitive and hospital care furnished during periods of disability
resulting from injury "in the line of duty" as volunteer firefighters,
and in the case of death from such injury, weekly cash payments to
surviving statutory dependents
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"In
the Line of Duty"
covers volunteer firefighters in various emergency situations and many
activities compensable under the law, when authorized by the proper
authority. These include:
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Participation at a fire,
hazardous material incident, alarm of fire or other
emergency or situation that triggers response by the fire
company or one of its units.
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Travel to, from and during
fires or other calls to which the company responds; travel
in connection with activities authorized under the law.
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Some duties in the firehouse
pursuant to orders or authorization.
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Inspection of property for
hazards or other dangerous conditions pursuant to orders or
authorization.
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Attendance at fire
instructions or a fire school; instructing at fire training.
- Participation in authorized
drills, parades, funerals, inspections or reviews,
tournaments, contests or public exhibitions conducted for
firefighters pursuant to orders or authorization.
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Fund-raising activities
(non-competitive events) pursuant to orders or
authorization.
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Attendance at a convention or
conference as an authorized fire company delegate.
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Testing fire apparatus and
equipment, fire alarms systems, water supply systems and
fire cisterns; construction, repair, maintenance and
inspection of the fire house.
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Fire prevention activities
pursuant of orders or authorization.
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Meetings of the fire company
pursuant of orders or authorization.
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Pumping water of other
substance from basement or building pursuant of orders or
authorization.
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Inspecting fire apparatus
prior to delivery pursuant of orders or authorization.
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Response to a call for general
ambulance service by a member of an authorized emergency
rescue and first aid squad.
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Participation is a supervised
physical fitness class pursuant of orders or authorization.
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Yes.
Whenever volunteer firefighters offer their services on a individual
basis to another fire company or fire department within New York
State, but outside the area regularly served by the fire company of
which they are members, and after such services are accepted by the
officer on command, the responsibility for benefits resulting form
an injury in the line of duty will be that of the fire company or
fire department (and its "home" political subdivision) which has
accepted such voluntary services.
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Yes, except:
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Fund-raising
activity not ordered or
authorized by the fire commissioners or practice fro or
participation in any recreational or social activity.
Fund-raising activity shall not include competitive events in
which volunteer firefighters are competitors, such as
baseball, basketball, football, bowling, tugs of war, water
ball fights, donkey baseball, boxing, wrestling, contest
between hands or drum corps, or other competitive events in
which volunteer firefighters are competitors and which involve
physical exertion on the part of the competitors.
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Work of service
not rendered as a volunteer firefighter but rendered as an
officer, official or employee of a public corporation or
special district thereof.
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Work or service
not rendered as a volunteer firefighter but in the course of
employment for a private employer.
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Work rendered not
as a volunteer firefighter but as a civil defense volunteer.
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Work or service
rendered while on leave of absence or while suspended for
duty.
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Yes.
Carelessness alone will not deprive a
firefighter of benefits. Willful intent to injure oneself or another
will deprive the firefighter of benefits.
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No.
It is not necessary that a volunteer firefighter lose
time in regular employment to receive the weekly cash payments under
the law if the disability is one that results (a) in loss of earning
capacity or (b) in loss or partial loss of use, of an arm, leg, or eye,
or loss of hearing . Also, if medical care is necessary, it will be
provided, even though there is no time lost from work.
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Earning
capacity is the capability of a volunteer firefighter to perform the
work normally done on a 5- or 6- day basis in regular employment, at the
time of injury, or other work that could be considered a reasonable
substitute, if there is no employment. Every volunteer firefighter is
considered to have an earning capacity. The Workers' Compensation Board
determines the reasonable earning capacity of the volunteer firefighter
with due regard to the provisions of the law and the work the
firefighter could reasonably be expected to obtain and for which the
firefighter is qualified by age, education, training and experience.
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Written
notice must be given within 90 days of any injury in the line of
duty, or of deaths as a result of such injury, to the fire commissioners
or other appropriate officials of the "home" area. However,
the Board may excuse the failure to give written notice on any of the
following;
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That for some sufficient
reason notice could not have been given.
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That a member of a body in
charge of, or any officer of the fire department or fire
company had knowledge within the prescribed 90-day period of
the injury or death.
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That a political subdivision,
or its insurance carrier, had not been prejudiced by a delay
in giving such notice.
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That the cause of disablement
or death was not known to be due to service as a volunteer
firefighter in sufficient time to comply with the notice
requirement.
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Necessary medical care is provided for as
long as the injury and process of recovery require, including services
of physicians, podiatrists, and surgeons, hospital care, x-rays,
laboratory tests, nursing service, prescribed drugs, medical or surgical
appliances and the repair or replacement of such when necessary. Advance
authorization may be necessary in certain instances.
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In a
separate chapter of the Laws of 1977, the
Legislature passed a new section of the Volunteer Firefighter's Benefit
Law to clarify the law regarding benefits payable when a volunteer
firefighter suffers the injury of heart attack in the line of duty. This
amendment does not make any malfunctions of the heart or coronary
arteries causing disability or death automatically payable.
There is still a legal burden on the volunteer
or the family to provide evidence which shows that a malfunction
occurred which caused the death and that it resulted from duties as a
volunteer.
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