Section 91-A. Arson investigation

1.  Every  municipal corporation, the
  office of fire prevention and control, and any  two  or  more  municipal
  corporations jointly, are hereby authorized and empowered to investigate
  and  to  take  such  action as may be required to formulate task forces,
  teams, fire and/or police investigative units to investigate any case of
  a burn injury or wound sustained as reported pursuant to section  265.26
  of  the  penal law, and to ascertain the cause of fires or explosions of
  suspicious   origin   within   the   municipality    or    participating
  municipalities, pursue necessary investigation thereof and assist in the
  preparation  and prosecution of cases stemming from any alleged criminal
  activity attendant to such fires or explosions. In the case of  a  joint
  endeavor  by  two or more municipal corporations, the share of the costs
  to be borne by  each  such  municipal  corporation  shall  be  fixed  by
  contract.  The  expenditure  of  moneys  for such purpose by a municipal
  corporation shall be deemed a lawful municipal purpose  and  the  moneys
  appropriated  for  the  purpose  shall be raised by tax upon the taxable
  real property within the municipal corporation in  the  same  manner  as
  moneys  for  other lawful municipal purposes. Each municipal corporation
  is hereby authorized to accept and disburse grants of public or  private
  money  or  other  aid  paid  or  made  available by the state or federal
  government for such purpose or purposes.
    2. Where an investigative unit formed by this section has investigated
  a fire and such fire is suspected to have been ignited  by  a  cigarette
  and  not  caused  by  arson, the investigative unit shall forward to the
  office of fire prevention and control within fourteen days of completing
  the investigation into such fire information detailing,  to  the  extent
  possible: (a) the specific brand and style of the cigarette suspected of
  having  ignited  such fire; (b) whether the cigarette package was marked
  as required by subdivision six of section one hundred fifty-six-c of the
  executive law; and (c) the location and manner in which  such  cigarette
  was purchased.