The Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue special motor vehicle license plates to "volunteer firemen" who request them in the manner provided in this article and who are residents of the State for private passenger motor vehicles registered in their respective names. For the purposes of this article "volunteer firemen" means members of organized units providing fire protection without compensation being paid to the members of the units for the service provided and whose membership is certified to the municipal clerk or chairman of the council of the municipality or county in which their unit is based by the chief officer of the unit concerned. The cost of the special license plate as determined by the department must be paid biennially by the requesting volunteer fireman, and only one license plate may be issued to a volunteer fireman. The plate must be issued upon application in a manner and upon forms prescribed by the department and upon approval of the application by the department.