Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no volunteer firefighter or volunteer emergency medical services personnel shall be liable for any injury to persons or property arising out of the operation of an emergency vehicle as defined in § 46.2-920 when such volunteer is en route to respond to a fire or to render emergency care or assistance to any ill or injured person at the scene of an accident, fire, or life-threatening emergency and the emergency vehicle displays warning lights as provided in § 46.2-1022 or 46.2-1023 and sounds a siren, exhaust whistle, or air horn, unless such injury results from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. The immunity provided by this section shall be in addition to, not in lieu of, any other applicable immunity provided by state or federal law, including § 2.2-3605 or 27-6.02.
§ 8.01-225.3.Immunity for volunteer first responders en route to an emergency.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 21. Miscellaneous Provisions · Last amended 2015 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-225.3 protects volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical services personnel from liability for injury caused by operating an emergency vehicle while responding, with lights and siren activated, to a fire or medical emergency, unless the injury results from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
Full Text of § 8.01-225.3
Plain-English Summary
This section addresses the moment before a volunteer responder arrives: the drive to the emergency itself. A volunteer firefighter or volunteer EMS provider operating an emergency vehicle while en route to a fire or to render emergency care is not liable for injury to persons or property arising from that vehicle operation, provided the vehicle is displaying its warning lights and sounding a siren, exhaust whistle, or air horn as required by Virginia’s traffic code.
The immunity has the same limit found throughout this cluster of Good Samaritan-type statutes: it does not cover injury caused by gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct, only ordinary negligence in the pressured circumstances of an emergency response. The section also confirms it supplements, rather than replaces, other applicable immunities under state or federal law, including specific cross-references for volunteer firefighter and rescue-squad liability protections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a volunteer firefighter liable for a crash while responding to a fire?
Not for ordinary negligence, if the emergency vehicle was displaying its required warning lights and sounding a siren, exhaust whistle, or air horn while en route — § 8.01-225.3 immunizes that situation unless the injury resulted from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
Does this immunity require the emergency vehicle to have its lights and siren on?
Yes. The statute conditions the protection on the vehicle displaying the warning lights required by §§ 46.2-1022 or 46.2-1023 and sounding a siren, exhaust whistle, or air horn.
Does this section cover paid firefighters and paid EMS personnel?
No. By its terms it applies to volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical services personnel.
Is this the same immunity that covers a volunteer once they arrive and start treating a patient?
No. This section is specifically about liability arising from operating the emergency vehicle en route; the separate emergency-care immunity in § 8.01-225 covers the treatment given once the responder arrives, and § 8.01-225’s own subsection D specifically excludes motor-vehicle liability from its protection.
Does this section replace other immunities available to volunteer firefighters?
No. It states the immunity is in addition to other applicable state or federal immunities, including those referenced in §§ 2.2-3605 and 27-6.02.
Amendment History
2015, c. 417.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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