N.Y. Volunteer Firefighters’ Benefit Law § 3

§ 3. Definitions. As used in this chapter:\n 1. "Volunteer fireman" 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: reimbursement of expenses\nfor meals, lodging and actual and necessary travel; the receipt of a\nmileage allowance in lieu of travel expense; reimbursement of expenses\nfor registration and tuition fees payable under section seventy-two-g of\nthe general municipal law, and the acceptance of transportation, food,\ndrink, shelter, clothing and similar items while on duty or engaged in\nsuch activities.\n 4. "Injury" includes any disablement of a volunteer fireman 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 fireman; and a step-child or acknowledged\nchild born out of wedlock dependent upon the deceased volunteer fireman.\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 fireman, unless a contrary meaning is clearly intended.\n 8. "Earning capacity", except as herein provided, means:\n a. The ability of a volunteer fireman to perform on a five-day or\nsix-day basis either the work usually and ordinarily performed by him in\nhis remunerated employment or other work which for any such worker would\nbe a reasonable substitute for the remunerated employment in which he\nwas employed at the time of his injury, or\n b. The ability of a volunteer fireman to perform on a five-day or\nsix-day basis either the work usually and ordinarily performed by him in\nthe practice of his profession or in the conduct of his trade or\nbusiness, including farming, and from which he could derive earned\nincome or other work which for any such person would be a reasonable\nsubstitute for the profession, trade or business in which he was engaged\nat the time of his injury.\n Every volunteer fireman shall be considered to have earning capacity\nand, if the provisions of paragraphs a and b above are not applicable in\nany given case, the workmen's compensation board, in the interest of\njustice, shall determine the reasonable earning capacity of the\nvolunteer fireman with due regard to the provisions of such paragraphs\nand the work he reasonably could be expected to obtain and for which he\nis qualified by age, education, training and experience. The ability of\na volunteer fireman to perform the duties of a volunteer fireman, or to\nengage in activities incidental thereto, may be considered in\ndetermining loss of earning capacity, but the inability of a volunteer\nfireman to perform such duties or to engage in such activities shall not\nbe a basis of determining loss of earning 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