§ 78.101.Definitions

Three definitions for the 2003 subchapter, and they differ from the nonprofit subchapter's in one crucial respect.

"Volunteer fire department" means a nonprofit organization that is operated by its members, exempt from the state sales tax or the state franchise tax under the named Tax Code provisions, and organized to provide an emergency response.

"Volunteer fire fighter" means a member of a volunteer fire department — a member, not an employee. That is the difference from the nonprofit subchapter, whose "fire fighter" is an employee of the department.

The two subchapters cover the two ways firefighting is provided outside municipal departments: paid personnel of a cooperative nonprofit under contract, and unpaid members of a volunteer department.

"Emergency response" means a response involving fire protection or prevention, rescue, emergency medical, or hazardous material response services — the same four services as the nonprofit subchapter's "fire emergency," without the marine limitation.

The tax exemption is the qualifying test, and the same two Tax Code provisions define an emergency service organization under the Tort Claims Act — which is how volunteer departments come within that Act's definition of a governmental unit for other purposes.