§ 176-a. Duties of chief and assistant chiefs of fire department of fire district. 1. The chief shall, under the direction of the board of fire commissioners, have exclusive control of the members of the fire department of the fire district at all fires, inspections, reviews and other occasions when the fire department is on duty or parade; he shall also have supervision of the engines, fire trucks, pumpers, hose wagons and other apparatus and of the equipment and other property used for the prevention or extinguishment of fire and of all officers and employees of the fire department. He shall see that the rules and regulations of the board of fire commissioners are observed and that the orders of the board of fire commissioners are duly executed. He shall, whenever required by the board of fire commissioners, report to said board the condition of the property of said fire district and such other information as may be required of him. He shall hold the members, officers and employees of the fire department strictly to account for neglect of duty and may suspend them for improper conduct, subject to the action of the board of fire commissioners at its next meeting. In case of the disability or absence of the chief, the first assistant chief, and in the case of the disability or absence of both the chief and first assistant chief, the other assistants, in numerical order, shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the chief. When the fire department or any company or squad thereof is on duty no member of the board of fire commissioners shall interfere with the duties of the chief or assistant chief.

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2. If an agreement in relation to the issuance of fire permits is entered into between the town board and the board of fire commissioners pursuant to section one hundred thirty-nine and subdivision twenty-four of section one hundred seventy-six of this chapter, the duties performed for the fire district by the chief, or an assistant chief, of the fire district fire department in relation to the issuance of the fire permit, or any preliminary investigation in connection therewith shall, in the case of any such officer who is a volunteer firefighter, be deemed to have been performed by him or her in his or her capacity as such and to be a duty within the meaning of paragraph c of subdivision one of section five of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law and shall, in the case of any such officer who is a paid firefighter, be deemed to have been performed by him or her in his or her capacity as such and to be a duty within the meaning of § 207-a of the general municipal law and other laws applicable in the event of injuries to or death of paid firefighters in line of duty. A chief or an assistant chief who is a volunteer firefighter shall not receive any remuneration for his or her services in relation to the issuance of such permits and any investigation in relation thereto, and any such officer who is a paid firefighter shall not receive any additional remuneration above his or her regular salary for any such service. Any such officer shall, however, be entitled to his or her actual and necessary travel expenses or mileage in connection with such services as provided in section one hundred seventy-eight-c of this article.