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.
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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:
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