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Fire department to add volunteers after state law change

Waiving a residency requirement will allow a New York volunteer department to be fully staffed

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By Ned Campbell
The Daily Gazette

DELANSON, N.Y. — Seven volunteers may not sound like much, but in the small rural village of Delanson it could be life-saving.

The Delanson Volunteer Fire Department hopes to go from 13 volunteers to 20 thanks to a bill recently signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, and sponsored in the Senate by Cecilia Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, waives the requirement that no more than 45 percent of the department’s firefighters can live outside of the village of Delanson.

The department has had difficulty recruiting due to the village’s small population and rural nature.

Full story: Waiver allows Delanson Fire Department to expand