(1) With the consent of the fire control officer for the rural fire district in which it operates or the Commissioner, a rural fire brigade may, in or out of the rural fire district, voluntarily co-operate with a public authority in the exercise of any function of the public authority prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section.
(2) If--(a) a public authority, or any member of a public authority, has immunity from legal proceedings that would otherwise lie in relation to the exercise by the authority or member of a function, and(b) a rural fire brigade co-operates under this section in the exercise of the function,each officer and other member of the brigade taking part has the same immunity.