Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed new legislation which helps volunteer firefighters across the state.

The legislation provides health care benefits to volunteer firefighters who have been diagnosed with certain cancers, linked to their service.

To qualify, the firefighter has to have been cancer-free when signing up to volunteer, must have at least five years of firefighting service and must be currently active, or within five years of last activity.

The president of Westchester County's Volunteer Firemen's Association issued a statement on the legislation, saying in part "We volunteer to fight fires, we didn’t volunteer to get cancer.  At least now volunteer firefighters and their families will not have to shoulder the burden of medical expenses and the associated costs of treatment alone to combat this terrible disease."