[Amended 11-5-2012; 1-4-2021]
Pursuant to Title 27, Chapter 2, Article 1, § 27-6.02, and Title 32, Chapter 4, Article 2.1, § 32.1-111.4:3, of the Code of Virginia, the County of Rappahannock (County) has entered into the Fire and Rescue/EMS Services Agreement of 2018, as amended in 2019 (Agreement), with certain volunteer fire companies and volunteer emergency medical services agencies named therein. By this Agreement, the County has caused firefighting and emergency medical services to be provided within Rappahannock County. This Agreement was approved by the Board in its most current form on April 1, 2019, and can be found in its entirety within the minutes for the meeting of that date. For so long as a volunteer fire company or a volunteer emergency medical services agency remains a party to the Agreement, it shall be deemed to be an instrumentality of the County, and it, and its members, shall enjoy the sovereign immunity of the County, and they shall be exempt from suit for damages done incident to the provision of emergency medical or firefighting services. Such immunity and exemption shall also apply as to acts by any company or its members performed in another jurisdiction in which they were assisting in meeting an emergency. The immunity and exemptions shall be to the fullest extent allowed by the sovereign immunity of the County, and by § 27-6.02, § 32.1-111.4:3 and § 32.1-111.4:4 of the Code of Virginia, and shall include travel while performing fire, rescue, or other emergency operations in emergency vehicles or fire apparatus.
