[Adopted 9-12-1911 by Ord. No. 236 (Ch.
25, Art. I, of the 1979 Code)]
[Amended 3-26-1928 by Ord. No. 732]
The Fire Department of the City of Garfield
shall consist of one Chief, a First Assistant Chief, a Second Assistant
Chief, a Third Assistant Chief and a Fourth Assistant Chief and as
many companies as the City Council may, from time to time, deem necessary.
The fire companies now organized and accepted in said City shall be
known and designated as follows: "Fire Company No. 1," "Fire Company
No. 2," "Fire Company No. 3," "Fire Company No. 4" and "Fire Company
No. 5."
[Added 4-26-2022 by Ord. No. 2930]
A.
Position created. The position of Fire Chaplain for the City of Garfield
Fire Department is hereby created in accordance with statutory authority.
The position will be a volunteer position under the supervision of
the Fire Chief.
B.
Qualifications. Any person appointed as Chaplain shall be an ordained
clergyman in good standing in the religious body from which he/she
is selected.
C.
Duties of Fire Chaplain. The duties of Fire Chaplain shall include,
but not be limited to, assisting the City of Garfield in death notifications,
station house adjustments, and any other duties that may be assigned
by the Fire Chief;
D.
Rank and salary. Any person appointed as Chaplain shall have earned
the rank of Battalion Chief with the salary fixed by the Mayor and
Council and payable in the same manner as in the case of the other
members of the City Fire Department.
E.
Term of office. A person appointed as Fire Chaplain shall serve for
a period of one year from the date of appointment. The Mayor shall
appoint Chaplains in accordance with this section with the advice
and consent of the City Council.
[Amended 3-26-1928 by Ord. No. 732]
A.
Fire companies may be organized in the City upon proper
application of the citizen of the City of Garfield, and each company
shall be entitled to the following membership, and no company shall
be known or designated as a "double company."
B.
Each company shall have a total membership of 35 members.
[Amended 1-21-1942 by Ord. No. 969]
[Added 11-6-1969 by Ord. No. 1414]
The departmental officers of the Volunteer Fire
Department of the City of Garfield shall consist of a Chief and four
Assistant Chiefs. The Chief shall serve for a term of one year, and
the first term under this article shall commence January 1, 1970.
The election of Chief of the Fire Department and four Assistant Chiefs
shall take place at the annual meeting in December of each of the
five fire companies in the Department. The Chief for the 1970 term
shall be elected by Fire Company No. 1 from its membership with the
First Assistant Chief being elected by Fire Company No. 2 from its
membership; the Second Assistant Chief elected from its membership
by Fire Company No. 3; the Third Assistant Chief elected from Fire
Company No. 4 from its membership; and the Fourth Assistant Chief
elected by Fire Company No. 5 from its membership. Thereafter, the
Assistant Chiefs, in consecutive order according to the respective
number of the fire company, shall succeed said first Chief for the
term of the following calendar year. Each Assistant Chief shall continue
in his position until the commencement of his term as Chief. As the
term of each Chief shall be completed, the respective number of the
several Assistant Chiefs shall rotate accordingly. At the annual meeting
in December, the company to which the Chief then in office shall belong
shall elect from its membership a new Assistant Chief to succeed the
then-Chief at the termination of his term, which Assistant Chief shall
be the Fourth Assistant Chief. In the event of a vacancy arising from
any cause whatsoever in the term of the Chief or any Assistant Chief,
such vacancy shall be filled at a special election of the membership
of the company from which such vacancy came. No person shall be eligible
to be elected to hold the office of Chief or Assistant Chief unless
he shall have previously served at least two years as a line or engineering
officer of his company.
[Added 3-6-1973 by Ord. No. 1512; amended 9-9-2008 by Ord. No.
2534]
The minimum age requirement for membership to any fire company of the Garfield Volunteer Fire Department is hereby established at 18 years of age; however, junior firefighters, pursuant to the provisions of Article V, shall be eligible for membership at the age of 16 years.
[Amended 12-28-2006 by Ord. No. 2480]
A.
Members may be accepted in the companies organized under this article by a majority vote of their members, but no such acceptance shall be operative until the secretary thereof shall have notified the Council, in writing, of the name of such member, the date of acceptance, his age and the place of residence, which shall be entered by the City Clerk in a book to be kept for that purpose and to be known as the "Register of the Fire Department of the City of Garfield." Such report shall also be accompanied by an affidavit made by the applicant or such evidence as may be satisfactory to the Council that he is a resident of the City of Garfield or resides within a two-mile radius of the municipal border of the City of Garfield and is past the age of 18 years and not over 45, a citizen of the United States and shall be free from any physical disability, and that he will faithfully perform the duties devolving upon him as a fireman to the best of his ability; that he will obey superior officers in all respects as becomes a fireman while on duty; and that he will not ask or demand exemption of the City of Garfield as such fireman until he shall have first served said City as an active fireman for the period of seven years. If the Council shall approve of the acceptance of such an applicant, it shall cause to be issued a certificate that he is a duly qualified fireman of the City of Garfield and that said applicant shall be supplied a badge, for which he shall deposit $0.50, which is to be returned upon the surrender thereof. No person shall be admitted as a fireman unless he shall comply with the foregoing requirements. Nonresident firemen must continue to adhere to all other requirements set forth in this article and be able to faithfully discharge their duties as members in good standing. Officers, including the Chief and four Assistant Chiefs, elected pursuant to the provisions of § 23-3 herein must be residents of the City of Garfield or reside within a two-mile radius of the municipal border of the City of Garfield. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions regarding residency, any City employee shall be permitted to serve as a firefighter and a member of an individual fire company regardless of his or her place of residence, provided that he or she remains a member in good standing within his or her fire company.
[Amended 12-13-2010 by Ord. No. 2599; 4-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2605; 2-8-2022 by Ord. No. 2919]
The management of the different companies shall
be according to such rules and bylaws as may be adopted from time
to time, all of which rules and bylaws shall be subject to the approval
of the Council before the same become operative.
[Amended 3-26-1928 by Ord. No. 732]
The management and control of the Fire Department
shall be under the Chief, or in his absence, such management and control
shall be under the First Assistant Chief, or in the absence of the
Chief or the First Assistant Chief, the management and control shall
be under the Second Assistant Chief, and in the absence of the Chief
and the two Assistant Chiefs, then the management and control is to
be under the Third Assistant Chief, and in the absence of all of the
foregoing, then the management and control shall be under the Fourth
Assistant Chief, subject always, however, to the direction and supervision
of the Mayor and City Council.
[Added 3-26-1928 by Ord. No. 732]
Any company failing to carry out the provisions
hereof or failing to carry the prescribed membership shall be subject
to dissolution by proper vote of the Mayor and Council.
It shall be the duty of the officers and members
of the several companies whenever a fire shall break out within the
limits of the City of Garfield to repair forthwith to their respective
houses and convey the apparatus in as speedy and ordinary a manner
as possible to the place where the fire may be and in conformity to
the direction of the Chief or Assistant Engineer and to exert themselves
in performing any duty required of them by the Chief or Assistant
Engineers and, upon the permission of the Chief or Assistant Engineers,
in a quiet and orderly manner to return said apparatus to their respective
places after the fire shall have been extinguished.
Any officer or member who shall neglect or refuse
to perform said duties or who shall be guilty of disorderly conduct
or disobedient to any officers or who shall violate any of the provisions
of this article shall be suspended or expelled from the Department
by his respective company, subject to the approval of the Council.
The respective companies may also, in lieu of expulsion, impose such
fine as may be thought advisable to maintain proper discipline, and
unless said fine is paid within such reasonable time as may be specified
in the imposition thereof, such member may be expelled, subject to
the approval of the Council.
No fire apparatus shall be taken outside the
limits of the City of Garfield without the consent of the Mayor and
City Council or upon the order of the Mayor and Council. Each person
who shall have served the City seven years as an active fireman shall
be entitled to a certificate signed by the Mayor, City Clerk and Chief
Engineer of the Fire Department of the City of Garfield and shall
be entitled to wear such badge as shall be designed by the City Council
and shall be considered an exempt member of the Garfield Fire Department.
If any person shall maliciously break or injure
any property belonging to the Fire Department, he shall be punished
by a fine not exceeding $10, plus the cost of the property and cost
of prosecution.
The Chief Engineer shall at least once a year
report to the City Council the condition of the Fire Department and
make requisition for any supplies that may be needed during the succeeding
year, together with such recommendations for the betterment of the
Fire Department as he may deem proper.
No fireman shall be permitted to resign from
one company and join another or be transferred from one company to
another without the consent of a majority of the company of which
he is a member and also the company to which he desires transmission
nor until approved by the City Council.
[Added 6-13-2011 by Ord. No. 2612]
Any vehicle which is purchased by or acquired by the City of
Garfield and assigned to a particular fire company including, without
being limited to, Chief's vehicles, shall be assigned to that company
and shall remain with that company for as long as the vehicle is in
service. No vehicle shall be transferred or reassigned to another
fire company without the written consent of the Mayor and Council
which shall be provided by resolution after consideration of the request
and the reasons therefor.
