Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF, WE-Sag Harbor) announced today that legislation he voted in favor of, which affords firefighters special protection while performing on-the-job duties, was signed into law last week. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed bill A.6756/S.1022, which ensures a person who intentionally obstructs the efforts of any firefighter performing emergency medical care is guilty of the crime of obstructing firefighting operations, a class A misdemeanor.

Firefighters perform various important functions in their day-to-day routine and are protected by the law while in performance of these duties. However, there is a loophole that does not adequately protect a firefighter who is performing emergency services. An example occurred in the City of Rochester when a fire company was responding to an EMS call and was performing Emergency Medical Care on a victim in the victim's place of residence. An onlooker became physically agitated and attacked the firefighters who were treating the victim. These circumstances placed the victim and firefighters at risk. The local police could not charge the individual under Section 195.15 and he was charged under a different section of law.