The Fire Department shall consist of the following:
A.
A Department Chief.
B.
Four Assistant Department Chiefs, four Captains, four
Lieutenants, four Engineers and four Assistant Engineers.
C.
As many firemen, qualified as set forth herein, as
may be approved by the Borough Council.
[Amended 12-9-2014 by Ord. No. 12-2014]
(1)
Each fireman must be not less than 18 years of age at the time of
his appointment to membership and shall have a physical taken with
the Borough Physician and have fingerprints taken for a background
check to be performed.
(2)
Each fireman must be a resident of the Borough of Totowa at the time
of his appointment to membership; or
(a)
Be a resident of an immediately bordering municipality and upon
application meet the requirements of N.J.A.C. 5:73-4.2 Firefighter
1 certification; or
(b)
Work in the Borough of Totowa and upon application meet the
requirements of N.J.A.C. 5:73-4.2 Firefighter 1 certification. The
Chief of the Department will review with the applicant and the applicant's
employer the ability to leave their place of employment to answer
fire calls with no impact to the applicant, Borough of Totowa and
the Fire Department and the applicant's employer. Applicants shall
be restricted to a maximum of eight.
(3)
A membership board shall be established, consisting of the current
Assistant Chiefs and the past Department Chiefs. The membership board
shall meet to review applications, have the applicant investigated
(fingerprint and background check) and interview all new applicants
for membership before passing off the application to a prospective
fire company of the Fire Department. It being understood that all
applicants must be approved by the Borough Council.
D.
Senior firemen. A senior fireman shall be one who
is qualified as set forth herein:
[Amended 10-14-2003 by Ord. No. 13-2003]
(1)
Each senior fireman must have served as a fireman
in the Borough of Totowa for 25 years.
(2)
A senior fireman must have attained the age of 60
years.
(3)
A senior fireman must be a resident of the Borough
of Totowa at all times.
(4)
A senior fireman shall be in good health and sound
body, to be evidenced by a certificate to that effect signed by a
licensed practicing physician of the State of New Jersey as deemed
necessary by the Fire Board.
E.
A Fire Department Mechanic.
F.
An auxiliary firefighter status is hereby established, which shall be subject to the following provisions as well as § 43-14C(1):
[Added 12-9-2014 by Ord.
No. 12-2014]
(1)
Each auxiliary firefighter shall be at least 18 years old, a resident
of the Borough of Totowa and assigned to one of the four fire companies.
(2)
Each auxiliary firefighter shall have no voting powers nor hold any
office in the Fire Department.
(3)
The status and assignment of auxiliary firefighters shall be under
the control of the applicable fire company Captains and Assistant
Chiefs.
(4)
Auxiliary firefighters will have no seniority and will have no line
number in the Fire Department.
(5)
Auxiliary firefighters shall provide fire service activities at a
fire scene or a drill based upon their level of ability, training
and experience pursuant to the direction of the Board of Fire Officers.
(6)
Auxiliary firefighters shall receive no compensation, benefits and
clothing allowance from the Borough of Totowa.
A.
The names of all persons elected to membership in
the several companies and proposed as members of the Department shall
be presented through the Board of Fire Officers, in writing, to the
Borough Council, signed by the Chief and Secretary of the company
in which they are so elected and approved by said Board of Fire Officers.
B.
Upon approval by the Borough Council, the applicant shall be admitted
into such fire company as a probationary member for a period of one
year from the date of such approval and the successful completion
of an approved fire training course by the State of New Jersey. During
the probationary period, the applicant shall perform all the duties
required of members of the Fire Department.
[Amended 12-23-2008 by Ord. No. 16-2008]
C.
After serving said probationary period to the satisfaction
of the Fire Officers of the company and the Chief of the Fire Department,
a written certification of approval as to the same shall be submitted
to the Borough Council by such Chief, and, upon approval by said Council,
the applicant shall become a regular member of the fire company.
D.
A member of the fire company may resign by submitting
his resignation in writing to his fire company, after which the Borough
Council may approve such resignation upon receipt of written approval
of such resignation from the Fire Chief and the Secretary of the company
of which the fireman was a member.
The Department Chief, four Assistant Chiefs
and the appointed Public Safety Committee of the Council shall constitute
a Board of Fire Officers and shall meet periodically for the transaction
of all business of the Department. The Board shall control the management
of the Department and its government subject to the approval of the
Council herein provided.
A.
Any member of the Department who has arrived at the
age of 60 years and has 25 years of service may be retired from service
by the Board of Fire Officers and with the consent of the Borough
Council of the Borough of Totowa. A retired fireman shall receive
100% clothing allowance until his death or he moves out of the State
of New Jersey.
B.
For the purpose of this chapter, a "disabled fireman"
shall be one who is permanently, medically disqualified from performing
the standard duties of a fireman and, in lieu of 25 consecutive years
of service, must have served at least eight years of service and received
his exempt fireman's status. The clothing allowance for a disabled
fireman shall be as determined by the Board of Fire Officers.
The Board of Fire Officers is hereby authorized,
empowered and required, from time to time, to adopt a code of bylaws
and rules for the control, management and government of the firematics
portion of the Fire Department and for regulating the proceedings
and business of said Board, which code or codes of bylaws and rules,
after adoption by such Board, shall not become effective and operative
until presented to and approved by the Borough Council of the Borough
of Totowa.
The Board of Fire officers is required to devise
forms or methods of keeping records and shall see that records are
kept of all alarms of fire, fire losses, methods of extinguishment,
drills, hose, apparatus, minor equipment, conditions of hydrant and
starting of motors.
