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HomeMy WebLinkAbout0606 OrdinanceORDINANCE NO. 606 AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BUREAU OF FIRE PREVENTION, PROVIDING OFFICERS THEREFORE AND DEFINING THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES, AND PRESCRIBING REGULATIONS FOR FIRE PREVENTION AND LIFE SAFETY IN CONNECTION WITH HAZARDOUS MATERIALS AND PROCESSES. The City Council of the City of Pasco do ordain as follows: Section 1. A Bureau of Fire Prevention in the Fire Department of the Cit y Of Pasco, Washington is hereby established which shall be operated under the supervision of the Chief of the Fire Department. The Chief of the Fire Department shall designate an officer (or member) of the Fire Department as Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention, who shall hold this office at the pleasure of the Chief of the Fire Department. The Chief of the Fire Department may detail such other members of ttethe fire department as inspectors;as shall from time to time be. necessary. Section 2. It shall be the duty of the officers of the Bureau of Fire Prevention to on. force'all-laws and' ordinances covering the following: 1. The Prevention -of fires; 2. The storage and use of explosives and flammables; 3. The installation and maintenance of automatic and other private fire alarm systems, and fire extinguishing equipment; 4. The maintenance and regulation of fire escapes; 5. The maintenance of protection and the elimination of hazards in buildings and structures, indluding those under construction; 6. The means and adequacy of exit"in case of fire, from factories, schools, hotels, lodging houses, adylums, hospitals, churches, halls, theatres, amphitheatres, and all other places in which numbers of persons work, live or congregate, from time to time, for any purpose; 7. The investigation of the cause, origin, and circumstances of fires. They shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as are set forth in other.sections of this and other ordinances, and as may be conferred and impesed from time to time by law. Section 3. The Chief of the Fire Department, Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention or any Inspector may, at all reasonable hours, enter any building or premises within his,juriddiction for the purpose of making any inspection, or investigation which, under the provisions of this ordinance., he or they may deem necessary to be made. i Section 4. F The Chief of the -Fire' Department, Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention or an Inspector specially designated thereto shall inspect, as often as.may be necessary, but not less than four times a year, all Specially hazardous manufacturing processes, storages or installations of gases,chemicals, oils, explosives and flammable materials, all interior fire alarm and automatic sprinkler.systems, and such other hazards or appliances as the Chief of the. Fire Department shall designate, and shall issue such orders as..may be.necessary for the enforcement of the laws and ordinances governing the same and for.safe guarding of.life and property from fire. Section It shall be the duty of the Chief of the Fire Department to inspect, or cause to be inspected by the Bureau of Fire Prevention, or by the Fire Department officers and members, as often as ma.y be.necessary, bUV not less than twice a year.in outlying districts.and four times a year in the closely built portions of the.city all buildings and premises except the interiors of private -dwellings, for the purpose of ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fire, or any violations of the provisions or intent of any ordinance of the city affecting the fire hazard. f Whenever any Inspector, as defined above, shall find in any building or upon any premises, -combustible or explosive matter or dangerous accumulations.of rubbish or unnecessary accumulation -of waste paper, boxes, shavings, or any highly flammable materials, and which is so situated as to endanger life or property; or shall find obstructions to or on fire escapes, stairs, passageways, doors or windows, liable to interfere with the operations of the Fire Department or egress of occupants in case of fire, he shall order,the.same to be'removed or remedied... 1, Section 6. It: shall.,; be 'the duty of the Chief of the Fire Department to ° inspect, or cause -to be reinspected by the Bureau of.Fire Prevention$ or' by the Fire Department officers or members.,,each place of assembly at least monthly and at such times, including time of occupancy land use, p as to insure compliance with all laws, regulations and orders dealing with overcrowding, use of decorations, maintenance of exit ways, collapse "� t of revolving doors, and maintenance of fire appliances in such places of assembly, Vihere conditions are found to be unsatisfactory, written orders for immediate correction shall be given. Section 7. The Chief of the rise Department, Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention or -an Inspector upon the -complaint of m y person or whenever he or they shall deem it necessary, shall inspect all buildings and .prem ses, within ,their ; jurisdiet-ion. tighenever any of said officers shall find any building or other structure which, for want of repairs, lack of sufficient,fire escapes, automatic or other fire alarm apparatus of fire extinguishing equipment or by reason of age or dilapidated con- dition, or from any other cause, is especially liable to fire, and which is so situated as to endanger other property or the occupants thereof, and whenever such -officer shall find in any building combustible or explosive matter or flammable conditions dangerous to the safety of such building or the occupants thereof he.or they shall order such dangerous conditions or materials to be.removed or remedied in such manner as may be.specified by the Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention. Section 8. The service of such orders as mentioned in Sections 104, 105, 106 and 107 may be made upon the owner, occupant or other person respons- ible for the conditions, either by delivering a copy of same personally or by delivering -the same.to and leaving it with any person in charge of the premises, or in case no such person is found upon the premise.s,.by affixing a copy thereof in a conspicuous place on the door to the entrance of the said premises. Whenever it may be necessayy to serve such an order upon the owner of premises such order may be served either by delivering to.and leaving with the said person a copy of the said order, or, if such owner is absent from the jurisdiction of the officer making the order, by mailing such copy to the owner's last known post office address. If buildings or other premises are owned by one person and occupied by another under lease or otherwise, the orders issued in connection with the enforcing of this.ordinance shall apply to the occupant above, except where the rules or orders require the making of additions to or changes"in the premises themselves, such as would immediately become real estate and be the property of.the.owner of the premises; in such. cases the rules or orders shall effect the owner and not the occupant unless it is otherwise agreed between the owner and the occupant. Any such order shall forthwith be complied with by the owner or oc-cupan.t'"ofsuch-premises or building. If such order is made by the Chief .of the Bureau of Fire Prevention or one of the inspectors, such. owner or occupant may within twenty-four hours appeal to the Chief of the Fire Department, who shall, within five days, review such order and file his decision thereon, and unless by his -authority the order is revoked or modified it shall remain in full force and be complied with within the'time fixed in said order or decision of the Chief of the Fire Department,; Provided; however, that any such owner-or.occupant,may, within five days after the—making or affirming of aiy such order by the Chief of the Fire Department and City Councilfile his petition with the Municipal Court,, -praying a review of such order and it shall be the duty of.such court to hear the same within not less than five days nor more than ten days from the. time the petition is filed, and to make such order in the premises as right and justice may require and such decision shall be final. Such parties so appealing'to the Municipal Court shall file with said court within two daysa bond in an amount to be'fixed by the court, to,be approved by the court, con- ditioned to pay all.the costs, of such appeal in case such appellant fails,to sustain his appeal.or the same.be dismissed for any cause. Section 9. The Bureau of.Fire Prevention -shall investigate the cause, origin and circumstances of every fire occurring in the city%involving loss of liffe or.injury to person or by Nh ich property has been destroyed or damaged and, .so far.as possible, shall determine whether the fire is the result of carelessness or.design. Such investigations shall.be begun immediately upon -the occurrence'''of such a fire by the Inspector it whose district..the fire occurs, and if it appears to the. officer making such an investigation, that such fire is.of suspicious origin, r the Chief of -the-Fire Department shall be immediately notified of the facts; he shall take charge immediately of the p4ysieal evidence, shall notify the proper authorities designated by law to pursue the investigation of such matters, and shall further co-operate with the authorities in the collection of evidence and in the prosecution of the case. Every fire shall be rep&rted in sriting to the Bureau of Fire Prevention within two days after.the occurrence of the same, by the officer in whose jurisdiction such a fire has occurred. Such report shall be in such form as shall be prescribed by the Chief of the Fire Department, and shall..contain'a statement of all facts relating to the cause, origin and circumstances of sueh.fire, injury to,persons,, and extent of the damage thereof,snd the insurance upon such property, and such other information as may be required. Section 10. The City (Prosecuting) Attorney and the Police Department, upon request of the Bureau of.Fire Prevention, shall assist the Inspectors in the investigation of any fire which, in their opinion, is of.sus- picioiis origin. Section 11. It shall be the duty of the Chief of the Fire Department to require teachers of public, private and parachial schools and educational institutions to -have one fire drill each month and to keep all.doors and exits unlocked during school hours. Section. 12. The- Chiet of the Fire Department'.shall keep, in the office of the Bureau of Fire Prevention, a record of -all fires and of all the facts concerning -the same, including statistics as to the extent of such fires.and,the damage caused thereby, and whether such losses were covered by ,insurance, and if so, in what amount, Such record shall be made daily from the reports made by the Inspectors under the provision of this ordinance. All such records shall be public Section. 13, The annual report of the Bureau of Fire Prevention shall -.be made on or before the 1st day of January and transmitted to the Xayor (or Board of Commissioners); it shall contain all pro- ceedings under this ordinance, with such statistics as the Chief of the Fire' Department may 4 sh to..include therein; the Chief of the Fire Department shall.also recommend any amendments to the ordinances which, -6 - in his judgment, shall be desirable. Section Nothing contained in this ordinance shall be construed as applying -,to the transportation of any article or thing shipped in con- formity with the regulations prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission,.,nor as applying to the military or naval forces of the United States, Section 15. The word "person" wherever used in. this ordinance shall be construed to include person, persons, firm or corporation. Section 16 "Approved" when applied to materials, type of construction and appliances refers to approval by the Chief of.the Bureau of Fire Prevention as a result of infestigations and tests conducted by him or by.reason of accepted principles or tests by the national Board.of Fire Underwriters or the Underwritersi.Laboratories, Inc., or the National Bureau of.St&ndards. Section 17.- Any �}nd all persons who shall vijlate any of the provisions. of this ordinance or fail to comply therewith, or who shall violate or fail to comply with sn y order or regulation made thereunder, or who shall buildlin viola tion.of any detailed statement of specifications or plans.submitted and approved thereunder., or any certificate or permit issued,thereunder, shall severally for each and every such violation and noncompliance respectively, forfeit and pay a penalty not to exceed the sum of twenty-five dollars,. The imposition of one penalty,for any violation of this ordinance shall not excuse the violation, or permit it to continue; and all such persons shall be required to correct or remedy such violations"or defects within a reasonable time; and when not other- wise' specified, each tendays that prohibited donditions are maintained shall.constitute a separate offense. The application of the above penalty shall not be to prevent the enforced- 'removal of prohibited conditions. Section 180 Conflicting Ordinances Repealed. All ordi:lances and parts -?- Section 19. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force five (5) days from and after its passe and legal publication. Passed by the Council this2ieV day 1947. Approved by the Mayor this day of) (OL4-� %% 1947. Attest: Mayor Cl- ty Clerk Approved as to form: x i 2 ` ,