Requires certain municipalities to establish fire departments to oversee firefighter entities within the municipality and ensure safe staffing of such firefighter entities.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8371
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
December 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring
certain municipalities to establish fire departments to oversee fire-
fighter entities within the municipality and ensure safe staffing of
such firefighter entities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new
2 section 209-h to read as follows:
3 § 209-h. Municipal fire departments; safe staffing. 1. For the
4 purposes of this section, the term "firefighter entity" means:
5 (a) a volunteer fire company of a county, city, town, village or fire
6 district fire department, whether or not any such company has been
7 incorporated under any general or special law,
8 (b) a fire corporation the members of which are volunteer firefighters
9 and was incorporated, and which is not included within paragraph (a) of
10 this subdivision, if such corporation is by law under the general
11 control of, or recognized as a fire corporation by, the governing board
12 of a city, town, village or fire district, or
13 (c) a fire corporation the members of which are volunteer firefighters
14 and which was incorporated under, or established pursuant to the
15 provisions of, any general or special law, which is not included within
16 this paragraph and paragraph (b) of this subdivision, if such corpo-
17 ration is by law under the general control of, or recognized as a fire
18 corporation by, the governing board of a city, town, village, fire
19 district or a district corporation other than a fire district.
20 2. Each county shall establish a county firefighter reserve and each
21 city, town, and village shall establish a fire department which shall
22 oversee and coordinate efforts between all firefighter entities which
23 operate within the municipality, which for the purposes of the county
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13347-03-3
A. 8371 2
1 firefighter reserve shall include any and all fire departments estab-
2 lished under this section located within the county.
3 3. All county firefighter reserves established under this section
4 shall:
5 (a) hire and train professional firefighters which can be dispatched
6 to firefighter entities within the county to ensure safe staffing. A
7 county firefighter reserve shall, when hiring professional firefighters,
8 prioritize hiring volunteer firefighters from city, town, and village
9 firefighter entities which operate within the county.
10 (b) establish safe staffing requirements for firefighter entities
11 within the county of at least:
12 (i) fifteen firefighters where the firefighter entity's service area
13 has a population density of one thousand people per square mile, or
14 more;
15 (ii) ten firefighters where the firefighter entity's service area has
16 a population density of between one thousand and five hundred people per
17 square mile; and
18 (iii) six firefighters where the firefighters entity's service area
19 has a population density of five hundred people per square mile, or
20 less.
21 (c) provide professional firefighters to operate out of firefighter
22 entities which are unable to maintain safe staffing levels.
23 4. Firefighters operating as a part of the reserve shall only be
24 utilized for calls relating to emergency medical services and shall be
25 trained for such purpose.
26 5. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to dissolve or merge any
27 firefighter entities.
28 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
