[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Hillsdale 5-2-2000. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Department — See Ch. 29.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 146.
A. 
The Hillsdale Fire Prevention Bureau will continue to operate under the supervision of the Code Compliance Official.
B. 
The Fire Official and staff are not emergency first responders, and when serving in this official capacity shall not be considered same or represent the Hillsdale Fire Department.
C. 
The Fire Official and staff shall work in harmony with all agencies of the Borough of Hillsdale, the Hillsdale Fire Department and surrounding jurisdictions to insure the safety of life and property of the citizens of Hillsdale.
D. 
The Fire Official shall be provided by the Fire Department with a fire pager which shall be worn whenever practical.
E. 
The Fire Official may respond to any fire.
F. 
If the Fire Official or any assistant fire officials are trained fire fighters and wish to become members of the Hillsdale Fire Department, they may do so subject to all the requirements for such membership and participation.
G. 
All Fire Officials must be certified and trained in donning self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and have such apparatus available for use at all times.
H. 
The Fire Official shall continue to receive run call slips from the Police Department in order that the incidence of false alarms may be tracked.
I. 
Every agenda of the meetings of the Board of Fire Officers shall include at the beginning of the meeting the following: "Report of the Fire Official." At such time the Fire Official may address the Board, or any written communication from the Fire Official shall be read at that time.
A. 
The Fire Official shall always post at the Police Station and Fire House a schedule of assistant fire officials (who all shall be duly certified for the position) and the order of emergency call out in the event assistance is required by any agency or official of the Borough.
B. 
Emergency call out of the Fire Official by the Fire Department will be determined by the Fire Chief or superior officer of the Hillsdale Fire Department in charge of a fire (hereafter referred to as the incident commander) when he or she determines that there is a need for the Fire Official. The incident commander shall in all instances contact the Police Department for a call out of the Fire Official.
C. 
Emergency call out of the Fire Official shall be done by the Police Department as follows:
(1) 
During business hours, the call should be to the Code Compliance office. If there is no response (or only a voice mail response), then a metrocall page will be sent by the Police Department to the on-call Fire Official as listed on the schedule for assignment by the Code Compliance Official.
(2) 
During nonbusiness hours, the call shall be made by telephone first to the Fire Official on duty. If he or she is not reached directly by the Police Department (i.e., spoken to directly as opposed to leaving messages), then a metrocall page will be sent by the Police Department to the on-call Fire Official as listed on the schedule for assignment by the Code Compliance Official.
(3) 
In the event that there is no confirmation within 15 minutes from the Fire Code Official on-call Fire Official as listed on the schedule for assignment by the Code Compliance Official that he or she will contact the incident commander over Fire Com 3, then the Police Department shall send a metrocall page to the next on-call Fire Code Official as listed on the roster.
(4) 
In the event that no Hillsdale Fire Code Official is available, a Westwood or Woodcliff Lake inspector shall be contacted by the Police Department.
A. 
Upon contacting the incident commander by Fire Com 3, the Fire Official and incident commander shall exchange information, and the Fire Official shall make a determination as to whether he or she will report to the scene. The Fire Official shall immediately notify the incident commander whether he or she is going to the scene of the fire.
B. 
If the Fire Official is a member of the Hillsdale Fire Department and is responding to the fire:
(1) 
Where practicable, he or she shall first report to the firehouse, ride to the scene on fire apparatus and perform the fire suppression duties assigned to him or her by the incident commander prior to commencing the duties of the Fire Official.
(2) 
If the Fire Official drives directly to the fire, he or she shall park out of the way of the scene and obey fire lines and then perform the fire suppression duties assigned to him or her by the incident commander prior to commencing the duties of the Fire Official.
C. 
If the Fire Official is not a member of the Hillsdale Fire Department and is responding to the fire, he or she shall park out of the way of the scene and obey fire lines.
D. 
Regardless of whether the Fire Official is a member or is not a member of the Hillsdale Fire Department:
(1) 
If the Fire Official is the first to arrive at a fire, he or she shall notify responding fire units that he or she is at the scene on Fire Channel 3 and inform them of any observations of smoke, alarms, etc.
(2) 
The Fire Official may begin a fire investigation by talking to persons who observed the fire but may not enter a structure or direct fire site, in the capacity of Fire Official, until cleared to do so by the incident commander. The Fire Official may, however, at any time, request from the incident commander permission to start a Fire Official investigation within a structure or within the direct fire site.