Serve Your Community: Become A Volunteer Firefighter

August 12, 2010

As our communities’ safety depends largely on the brave men and women who volunteer in our local fire companies, Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt (R,C,I – Greenwood Lake) is encouraging all interested residents to consider serving the community by becoming a volunteer firefighter and would like to share with them some information regarding volunteering.

“This year, we enacted new laws that further protect volunteer firefighters, making this a great time to encourage more residents to consider volunteering. I am proud to have supported this legislation, which permits municipalities to offer more affordable health insurance to our state’s nearly 97,000 volunteer firefighters, and I hope this measure helps spur greater recruitment in our volunteer fire companies,” said the assemblywoman.

In addition to the new law regarding health insurance, volunteer firefighters may qualify for many other benefits, including the Volunteer Firefighter Income Tax Credit, Volunteer Firefighter Property Tax Exemption, partial and total disability benefits, and eligibility for the New York State Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Service Scholarship. Volunteer firefighters also enjoy the personal satisfaction of giving their time to serve their neighbors, while participating in a vital community organization.

General qualifications for becoming a volunteer firefighter may include being a resident of the fire district and successful completion of required training. However, interested residents should contact their local fire company for specific qualifications. To learn more about becoming a volunteer firefighter, please contact the National Volunteer Fire Council’s Hotline at 1-888-275-6832 or the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York at 1-800-232-7692. Residents also may call their county representative of the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control:

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