Gov. Code, § 19886.1

Whenever any firefighter of the state dies or is disabled from performing his or her duties as a firefighter by reason of his or her proceeding to or engaging in a fire-suppression or rescue operation, or the protection or preservation of life or property, anywhere in this state, including the jurisdiction in which he or she is employed, but is not at the time acting under the immediate direction of his or her employer, he or she, or his or her dependents, as the case may be, shall be accorded by his or her employer all of the same benefits of the workers’ compensation law, which he, she, or they would have received had that firefighter been acting under the immediate direction of his or her employer. Any injury, disability or death incurred under the circumstances described in this section shall be deemed to have arisen out of and been sustained in the course of employment for purposes of workers’ compensation and all other benefits.