March 17, 1969

Honorable Marie Winters Firemen's Pension Commissioner 1010 Sam Houston Building Austin, Texas 78701

Dear Mrs. Winters: Opinion No. M-358
Re: Whether volunteer firemen operating an emergency ambulance service as a regular operating portion of theVolunteer Fire Dept. are covered by Sees. 7 8 and 12 of Article 6243e,V.C.S.
You have requestedan opinion of this office on the above captioned question.

Article 

### 6243e, Vernon's Civil Statutes, reads, in part, as follows:

II

. . . "Sec. 7. Whenever a person serving as an active fireman duly enrolled in any regularly active fire department in any city or town in the State having a population of less than five hundred thousand (500,000)according to the last preceding Federal Census,which city or town is now within, or may hereafter come withqn the provisions of thisAct, shallbecome physically or mentally disabledwhile n and/or n consequence 0 kop;i~;~~u~;:d Board the perfor??nce off4 rustees sha

, or without such request, if it shall deem proner and for the good of the department, retire suchperson from active service eitherupon total or partial disability as the case may warrant.
. . . "Sec. 8. Whenever any duly enrolledmember of any regularly organizedactive fire department of any city or town now coming

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within or thatmay hereafter come within the nrovisions of thisAct as herein limited. on account of accident or other temporarydisability caused or sustained~ while in, and/or iLnconsequence of the performance ofhis 3 ti H$ b fi dt

azdg a:&1 h it 1

~e~%re"$e t

trofssFona1 services of.

a physician; surgeonbr nurse, said Board of Trustees shall upon presentation of properly itemizedand verified bills therefor, orderpaid from the Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund of that city or town, all necessary hospital,physician's, surgeon's,nurse's and/ormedicine bills or expenses and not less ,thanFive Dollars ($5)nor more than Fifteen Dollars ($15)per week to such fireman during such temporarydisability;provided however, that in no case shall the amount or amounts so paid for such bills and expenses exceed the aggregate sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100) in any onemonth; and provided further, that the benefits provided by this Section shall not apply to any city or townhaving a fully paid fire department. II

. . *
"Sec. 12. If anymember of any department In any city or townhaving a population of less than five hundred thousand (500,000) according to the lastpreceding Federal Census, which city or town is now within or may hereafter come within theprovisions of thisAct, who has been retired on allowancebecause of length of service or disability. shall thereafter die from any cause whatsoever; or if while In service, any member shall die from any cause growing out of and/or in consequence of the performance of his duty; or shall di‘efrom any cause whatsoever after he has become entitled to an allowance or pension certificate and shall leave surviving a widow, a child or children under the age of eighteen (1.8) years or a dependentparent, said Board of Trustees shall,,order

paid a monthly allowance as follows:

. . . (Emphasisadded.)

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Mrs. Marie Winters,page 

### 3

This officeheld in Attorney G;neral's OpinionNo, M231 

### (1968) thatpaid firemenperforming emergency ambulance serviceas a duty of the fire departmentwould be eligible for the benefits authorizedby Section 

### 7 and Section 12 of Article 

### 6243e.
It is the opinion of thisoffice that duly enrolled volunteer firemenperforming "emergency"ambulance service as a duty of theVolunteer Fire Department are covered for benefits under Sections 

### 7, 8 and 12 ofArticle 

### 6243e, Vernon's Civil Statutes, on the samebasis thatpaid firemen are afforded coverage for emergencyambulance duties.
SUMMARY Duly enrolledvolunteer firemenperforming "emergency"ambulance serviceas a duty of the Volunteer Fire Department are covered for disability benefits under Sections 

### 7, 8 and 12 of Article 

### 6243e, Vernon's Civil Statutes. Very truly yours, 

# 4Gzigk&P&F

At rney General of Texas Preparedby William J. Craig Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE
Kerns Taylor, Chairman George Kelton,Vice-Chairman James McCoy Bill Corbusler Jo Betsy Lewallen Sally Phillips
W. V. GEPPERT Staff Legal Assistant

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