N.Y. General Municipal Law Section 200
Defining qualifications of exempt volunteer firefighters

An exempt volunteer firefighter is hereby declared to be a person who as a member of a volunteer fire company duly organized under the laws of the state of New York shall have at any time after attaining the age of eighteen years faithfully actually performed service in the protection of life and property from fire within the territory immediately protected by the company of which he or she is a member, and while a bona fide resident therein, for a period of five years, as provided in this article, or, if such company shall have been sooner disbanded upon the organization of a paid fire department, for a period of at least one year and shall also have been a member of such volunteer fire company at the time it shall have been disbanded; but the limitation of one year’s service shall not apply to a volunteer firefighter who was a member of a fire company which was disbanded prior to January first, nineteen hundred two. The foregoing residence requirements shall not apply (1) to a volunteer firefighter who has been duly elected to membership in his or her fire company as a non-resident member residing in territory which is afforded fire protection by his or her fire company pursuant to a contract for fire protection, as authorized by paragraph three of subdivision c of section fourteen hundred two of the not-for-profit corporation law or by subdivisions two and three of either section 10-1006 of the village law, Town Law § 176-B (Volunteer members of fire district fire companies)section one hundred seventy-six-b of the town law or General City Law § 16-A (Volunteer members of fire companies)section sixteen-a of the general city law, (2) to a volunteer firefighter whose membership has been duly continued in his or her fire company as authorized by paragraph three of subdivision c of section fourteen hundred two of the not-for-profit corporation law or by subdivision five of either section 10-1006 of the village law, Town Law § 176-B (Volunteer members of fire district fire companies)section one hundred seventy-six-b of the town law or General City Law § 16-A (Volunteer members of fire companies)section sixteen-a of the general city law and (3) to a volunteer firefighter who has been duly elected to membership as a non-resident as authorized by paragraph three of subdivision c of section fourteen hundred two of the not-for-profit corporation law or by subdivision six of either section 10-1006 of the village law, Town Law § 176-B (Volunteer members of fire district fire companies)section one hundred seventy-six-b of the town law or General City Law § 16-A (Volunteer members of fire companies)section sixteen-a of the general city law. The foregoing requirement of five years’ service shall not apply to a volunteer firefighter serving as such at the time of his or her entry into the military service of the United States or of one of its allies in world war II, or during the period of hostilities as defined in subparagraph three or subparagraph four of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of Civil Service Law § 85 (Additional credit allowed veterans in competitive examinations)section eighty-five of the civil service law, who, as a result of such military service, shall have become incapacitated for performing the full duties of a volunteer firefighter, or to a volunteer firefighter who, as the result of the performance of his or her duties as such, shall have become likewise incapacitated, but any such volunteer firefighter shall be an exempt volunteer firefighter even though he or she may have served as such for a lesser period than five years, and he or she shall be entitled to a certificate as provided in § 202 (Certificate to be issued to exempt volunteer firefighter)section two hundred two of this article which, in addition to the specifications contained in said section, shall set forth the facts in reference to his or her military service, if any, as aforesaid and that as a result of such military service, or as the result of service as a volunteer firefighter, he or she was incapacitated for performing the full duties of a volunteer firefighter. The term “military service” as used in this section shall mean the same as the term “military duty” as used in Military Law § 243 (Provisions applicable to public employees who are absent on military duty)section two hundred forty-three of the military law, except that it shall relate to service for an ally of the United States in world war II as well as to service for the United States.

Source: Section 200 — Defining qualifications of exempt volunteer firefighters, https://www.­nysenate.­gov/legislation/laws/GMU/200 (updated Jan. 11, 2019; accessed Feb. 28, 2026).

200
Defining qualifications of exempt volunteer firefighters 200–A
Volunteer firefighters serving in more than one fire company or fire department 200–AA
Training stipend for volunteer firefighters 200–B
Leaves of absence for volunteer firefighters entering the armed forces of the United States prior to July first, nineteen hundred sixty-six 200–C
Leaves of absence for volunteer firefighters entering the armed forces of the United States on or after July first, nineteen hundred sixt... 201
Rights and privileges of exempt volunteer firefighters 202
Certificate to be issued to exempt volunteer firefighter 202–A
Recording certificates of exempt volunteer firefighter 203
List of exempt volunteer firefighters to be filed 204
Qualifications necessary to entitle to certain exemptions 204–A
Raising of funds for fire company purposes 204–B
Youth programs 204–C
Plan for arson investigation 204–D
Duties of the fire chief 204–DD
Qualifications of a fire chief 204–E
Unauthorized destruction of property 204–F
Plan for hazardous materials incidents response 204–G
Restrictions on the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals 205
Payments to injured or representatives of deceased volunteer firefighters 205–A
Additional right of action to certain injured or representatives of certain deceased firefighters 205–B
Relief of volunteer firefighters engaged in the performance of duty as such firefighters from civil liability and liability of fire distr... 205–C
Payments pending controversies where volunteer firefighters are killed or injured 205–CC
Volunteer firefighter enhanced cancer disability benefits 205–D
Relief from civil liability for acts or omissions by fire wardens in the city of New York 205–E
Right of action to certain injured or representatives of certain deceased police officers 205–F
Removal of civil liability barriers 205–G
Defense and indemnification of volunteer firefighters 206
Certificate to police officers and firefighters 206–A
Penalty for improper use of certificates 206–B
Exemption of benefits payable under blanket accident insurance covering volunteer firefighters 207
Hospitalization of members of fire departments in certain cities 207–A
Payment of salary, medical and hospital expenses of firefighters with injuries or illness incurred in performance of duties 207–AA
Disabilities of members of the uniformed force of sanitation departments in certain cities 207–B
Additional retirement benefits for certain firefighters in cities 207–C
Payment of salary, wages, medical and hospital expenses of police officers with injuries or illness incurred in the performance of duties 207–D
Additional retirement benefits for certain police officers in cities and certain villages 207–E
Minimum retirement benefits for police officers in cities and who are members of police pension or retirement systems maintained by such ... 207–E*2
Minimum retirement benefits for firefighters in cities and who are members of fire department pension or retirement systems maintained by... 207–F
Ordinary death benefits of members of fire department systems of cities 207–G
Ordinary death benefits of members of police retirement systems 207–H
Death benefits of members of certain fire department pension or retirement systems of cities 207–H*2
Death benefits of members of certain police pension systems 207–I
Temporary supplemental retirement allowances for certain police officers 207–I*2
Supplemental retirement allowances of retired firefighters of cities 207–II
Payment of supplemental retirement allowances of retired police officers and firefighters of certain cities 207–J
Supplemental pension allowances of certain retired teachers of cities 207–K
Disabilities of policemen and firemen in certain cities 207–K*2
Disabilities of policemen and firemen in certain cities 207–KK
Disabilities of firefighters in certain cities caused by cancer 207–KKK
Disabilities of firefighters in certain cities caused by Parkinson’s Disease 207–L
Temporary supplemental retirement allowances for certain police officers in towns and villages 207–N
Performance of duty disability retirement 207–O
Performance of duty disability retirement 207–O*2
Disabilities of members of the uniformed force of correction departments in certain cities 207–P
Performance of duty disability retirement 207–Q
Firefighters 207–Q*2
Disabilities of emergency medical technicians or advanced emergency medical technicians in certain cities 208
Members of police force to have one day rest in seven 208–A
School guards 208–B
Death benefits for beneficiaries of certain police officers and firefighters 208–C
Death benefits for dependent fathers or dependent mothers of certain police officers and firefighters 208–D
Extra work by members of certain police forces 208–D*2
Compensation during disability 208–D*3
Extra work by members of a police force in cities 208–E
Extra work by members of certain police forces 208–F
Special accidental death benefit 208–G
Community activity by members of a police force 208–H
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and retraining for police departments in cities having a population of one million or more 1 209
Outside service by local fire departments, companies, ambulance districts and airport crash-fire-rescue units 209–A
Relations with other states and the dominion of Canada 209–AA
Paid leave for disaster service volunteers 209–AA*2
Appointment of private college campus security officers at independent non-profit colleges 209–B
Emergency rescue and first aid squads 209–BB
Specialized teams 209–C
Fire police squads of fire departments and fire companies 209–CC
Notification of presence of wild animals and dangerous dogs 209–D
Contracts for outside service by volunteer fire departments and companies 209–DD
Discovery of unlawful drug laboratory 209–E
Fire mobilization and mutual aid plan 209–EE
Adoption of a code of ethics and disclosure of interests by fire companies 209–F
Outside service by local police forces 209–FF
Provisions relating to certain accidental disability benefits 209–FFF
Provisions relating to a membership date in the New York city police pension fund or the fire department pension fund attributable to ser... 209–G
Liability for outside aid 209–GG
Symbols of hate 209–I
Emergency service by volunteer firefighters 209–J
Mutual aid programs in counties 209–L
Removal of volunteer officers and volunteer members of fire departments 209–M
Outside service by local police 209–P
Relay of fire and emergency calls 209–Q
Permanent appointment of police officers 209–R
Police protection 209–S
Contracts between municipalities and fire districts for joint fire training centers 209–T
Contracts for joint fire alarm systems 209–U
Notification of presence of hazardous materials 209–V
Employment of retired persons as special patrolmen for publicly owned property 209–W
Permanent appointment of fire fighters 209–X
Training of certain paid city firefighters promoted to a first-line supervisory position 209–Y
Establishment of hazardous materials emergency response teams 209–Z
Annual independent audits
Green check means up to date. Up to date

Verified:
Feb. 28, 2026

Last modified:
Jan. 11, 2019

§ 200. Defining qualifications of exempt volunteer firefighters's source at nysenate​.gov

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