[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting
of the Town of Middleton 3-20-1973 by Art. 39. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Town voted to adopt, for the purpose of
prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous to life and
property from fire and explosion, that certain code known as the Fire
Prevention Code recommended by the American Insurance Association,
being particularly the 1970 edition thereof and the whole thereof,
save and except such portions as are hereinafter deleted, modified
or amended herein, of which code not fewer than two copies shall be
filed in the office of the Town Clerk after the adoption of said code,
and the same is hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set
out at length herein, and from the date on which this bylaw shall
take effect, the provisions hereof shall control within the limits
of the Town of Middleton.
The limits referred to in Section 12.5B of the
Fire Prevention Code, in which the storage of explosives and blasting
agents is prohibited, are hereby established as follows: Zoning Code
and judgment of the Fire Chief.
The limits referred to in Section 16.22A of
the Fire Prevention Code, in which the storage of flammable liquids
in outside aboveground tanks is prohibited, are hereby established
as follows: Zoning Code and judgment of the Fire Chief.
The limits referred to in Section 21.6A of the
Fire Prevention Code, in which bulk storage of liquefied petroleum
gas is restricted, are hereby described as follows: Zoning Code and
judgment of the Fire Chief.
[Added 10-18-1984 STM by Art. 12; amended 11-29-2005 STM by Art.
20]
The Fire Prevention Code is amended by adding
the following to Article 1, Section 1.9:
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Permits:
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f. A permit shall be required for the use of
a tar kettle or tar tank used in conjunction with the application
of this material to structures in Middleton. Fire-extinguishing equipment
will be on hand, either portable or a fixed system, in a quantity
sufficient to extinguish or retard any fire that would occur with
the equipment. All fuel used for the use of this equipment shall be
kept in a safe manner. L.P. gas used as a fuel supply will be stored
as outlined in NFPA 58. The Fire Chief shall issue these permits and
they shall be under their supervision.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28] |
The Fire Prevention Code is amended by adding
to Section 14.4, Automatic Sprinkler Systems:
A.
Any building that has more than five floors that are
used for any purpose, whether it be for habitation, office or storage
use, shall be completely protected by a sprinkler system.
B.
The sprinkler system shall be installed in accordance
with National Fire Protection Standard Nos. 13 and 13A.
C.
Each floor to have its own control valve, located
in a fire-resistive stairwell, and provided with electrical supervision
of the valve, also an electrical water flow alarm device, connected
into the main control panel.
D.
An indicator panel with local supervision would be
located at the building entrance, easily accessible to fire fighters,
to designate by signal the floor on which the sprinkler is operating.
E.
At the same indicator panel there would be a provision
for takeover of control on one elevator by fire fighters.
F.
Because of the elevation of the building a pressure
tank, or pump, (if a pump, it must have auxiliary power) shall be
installed in accordance with NFPA requirements.
G.
A wet standpipe system must also be installed in each
stairwell in accordance with NFPA requirements. Also at each floor
level there shall be a gated two-and-one-half-inch outlet, equipped
with an adaptor from 2 1/2 inches to 1 1/2 inches National
Standard Threads (Male).
H.
Outside Fire Department standpipe connections for
the sprinkler must be in accordance with NFPA requirements.
I.
All stairwells must be provided with awning-type windows,
or windows that can be easily opened by the Fire Department at each
floor, so that smoke may be relieved readily from the stairwell.
J.
A master fire alarm box shall be installed at the
front entrance of each building.
K.
This box will automatically monitor the sprinkler
system, fire detection system and any other alarm-actuating devices,
and transmit an alarm to the Fire Department.
L.
Suitable fire gongs shall be installed on each floor
so as to notify the tenants if a fire is in progress, and there shall
be pull stations on each floor.
M.
All the above-mentioned requirements shall meet the
approval of the Middleton Fire Chief.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
The Chief of the Fire Department shall have
power to modify any of the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code
upon application, in writing, by the owner or lessee, or their duly
authorized agent, when there are practical difficulties in the way
of carrying out the strict letter of the code, provided that the spirit
of the code shall be observed, public safety secured, and substantial
justice done. The particulars of such modifications when granted,
or allowed, and the decision of the Fire Chief thereon shall be entered
upon the records of the Fire Department and a signed copy shall be
furnished the applicant.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
Whenever the Chief of the Fire Department shall
disapprove an application, or refuse to grant a permit applied for,
or when it is claimed that the provisions of the code have been misconstrued,
or wrongly interpreted, the applicant may appeal from the decision
of the Chief of the Fire Department to the Select Board within 15
days from the date of the decision appealed.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
The Select Board and the Chief of the Fire Department
shall act as a committee to determine and specify, after giving affected
persons an opportunity to be heard, such notice to be given publication
for one week in a newspaper having circulation in the Town of Middleton,
any new materials, processes, or occupancies which shall require permits,
in addition to those enumerated in said code. The Chief of the Fire
Department shall post such list in a conspicuous place in their office
and distribute copies thereof to interested persons upon request.
A.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of the code hereby adopted or fail to comply with any order made thereunder,
or who shall build in violation of any detailed statement of specifications
or plans submitted and approved thereunder, or any certificate or
permit issued thereunder and from which no appeal has been taken,
or who shall fail to comply with such order as affirmed or modified
by the Select Board, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, within
the time fixed herein, shall severally, for each and every such violation
and noncompliance respectively, be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
by a fine of $20 for each offense. The imposition of one penalty for
any violation 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 otherwise specified,
each 10 days that prohibited conditions are maintained shall constitute
a separate offense.
[Amended 6-5-2021 ATM by Art. 28]
B.
The application of the above penalty shall not be
held to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
[Amended 11-29-2005 STM by Art. 20]
The Town Meeting hereby declares that should
any section, paragraph, sentence, or word of this bylaw, or of the
code herein adopted, be declared for any reason to be invalid, it
is the intent of the Middleton Town Meeting that it would have passed
all other portions of this bylaw independent of the elimination herefrom
of any portion as may be declared invalid.
