[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Radnor 9-19-1994 by Ord. No. 94-26. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The following provisions are general provisions
for the purpose of establishing basic fire control measures and regulations
governing conditions which could impede or interfere with fire suppression
forces.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The Director of Community Development or duly authorized
representative.
Any organized fire company which has responded in Radnor
Township for the purpose of extinguishment of a fire or other emergency
involving protection of life and/or property or when its assistance
has been requested by the officer-in-charge of the incident.
The Chief of the fire company or designee in whose district
the emergency occurs or, in his absence, the next ranking officer
following the chain of command established by the rules of the fire
company in whose district the emergency occurs.
The officer-in-charge at the scene of a fire
or other emergency involving the protection of life and/or property
is empowered to:
A.
Control and direct the activities at such scene.
B.
Prohibit any person, vehicle or object from approaching
the scene and may remove or cause to be removed from the scene any
person, vehicle or object which may impede or interfere with the operations
of the fire company.
C.
Remove or cause to be removed any person, vehicle
or object from hazardous areas for the purpose of protecting such
person, vehicle or object. All persons ordered to leave a hazardous
area shall do so immediately and shall not reenter the area until
authorized by the officer-in-charge.
D.
Blockade any public highway, street or private right-of-way
temporarily while at the scene.
E.
Trespass at any time of the day or night without liability
while at such scene.
F.
Enter any building, including private dwellings, or
any premises where a fire is in progress for the purpose of extinguishing
the fire.
G.
Enter any building, including private dwellings, or
premises near the scene of the fire for the purpose of protecting
the building or premises or for the purpose of extinguishing the fire
which is in progress in another building or premises.
H.
Direct without liability the removal or destroying
of any fence, house, motor vehicle or other thing which he may judge
necessary to be pulled down or destroyed to prevent the further spread
of fire.
I.
Request and be supplied with additional materials,
such as sand, treatments, chemicals, etc., and special equipment,
when it is deemed a necessity, to prevent the further spread of the
fire or hazardous condition, the cost of which is to be borne by such
property owner.
J.
Order disengagement of any convoy, caravan, train
of vehicles, craft or railway cars if deemed a necessity in the interest
of safety of persons or property.
K.
Take command of all industrial management, fire brigades
or Fire Chiefs whenever his fire company is called to respond to such
if, in his opinion, such action is in the interest of public safety.
A.
Interference with fire company operations. It shall
be unlawful to interfere with, attempt to interfere with, conspire
to interfere with, obstruct or restrict the mobility of or block the
path of travel of any fire company emergency vehicle in any way or
to interfere with, attempt to interfere with, conspire to interfere
with, obstruct or hamper any fire company operation.
B.
Compliance with orders. A person shall not willfully
fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of the
officer-in-charge or designee to interfere with the compliance attempts
of another individual.
C.
Vehicles crossing fire hose. A vehicle shall not be
driven or propelled over any unprotected fire hose of a fire company
when laid down on any street, alleyway, private drive or any other
vehicular roadway without the consent of the officer-in-charge or
designee of said operation.
D.
Unlawful boarding or tampering with fire company emergency
equipment. A person shall not, without proper authorization from the
officer-in-charge or designee of said fire company emergency equipment,
cling to, attach himself to, climb upon or into, board or swing upon
any fire company emergency vehicle, whether the same is in motion
or at rest, sound the siren, horn, bell or other sound-producing device
thereon or manipulate or tamper with or attempt to manipulate or tamper
with any levers, valves, switches, starting device, brakes, pumps
or any equipment or protective clothing on or a part of any fire company
emergency vehicle.
E.
Damage; injury to fire company equipment; personnel.
It shall be unlawful for any person to damage or deface or attempt
or conspire to damage or deface any fire company emergency vehicle
at any time or to injure or attempt to injure or conspire to injure
fire company personnel while performing fire company duties.
A.
General. It shall be unlawful to obscure from view,
damage, deface, obstruct or restrict the access to any fire hydrant
or any Fire Department connection for the pressurization of fire suppression
systems, including fire hydrants and Fire Department connections that
are located on public or private streets and access lanes or on private
property. If, upon the expiration of the time mentioned in a notice
of violation, obstructions or encroachments are not removed, the code
official shall proceed to remove the same. Costs incurred in the performance
of necessary work shall be paid from Township funds on certificate
of the code official and with the approval of the chief administrative
official; and the legal authority of the municipality shall institute
appropriate action for the recovery of such costs.
B.
Hydrant use approval. A person shall not use or operate
any fire hydrant intended for use of the fire company for fire suppression
purposes unless such person first secures a permit for such use from
the code official and the water company having jurisdiction. This
section shall not apply to the use of such hydrants by a person employed
by, and authorized to make such use by, the water company having jurisdiction
or to the use by fire companies for the purpose of training.
C.
Public water supply. The code official shall recommend
to the chief administrative official of the municipality the location
or relocation of new or existing fire hydrants and the placement or
replacement of inadequate water mains located upon public property
and deemed necessary to provide an adequate fire flow and distribution
pattern. A fire hydrant shall not be placed into or removed from service
until approved by the code official.
A person shall not obstruct, remove, tamper
with or otherwise disturb any fire hydrant or fire appliance required
to be installed or maintained under the provisions of the Fire Prevention
Code[1] except for the purpose of extinguishing fire, training
or testing purposes recharging or making necessary repairs or when
permitted by the code official. Whenever a fire appliance is removed
as herein permitted, it shall be replaced or reinstalled as soon as
the purpose for which it was removed has been accomplished. Defective
and non-approved fire appliances or equipment shall be replaced or
repaired as directed by the code official.
A person or persons shall not erect, construct,
place or maintain any fences, gates, chains, bars, pipes, wood or
metal horses or any other type of obstruction in or on any street
within the boundaries of the municipality. The word "street" as used
in this code shall mean any roadway accessible to the public for vehicular
traffic, including but not limited to private streets or access lanes,
as well as all public streets and highways within the boundaries of
the municipality.
Fire companies will provide protection against
fire within the following described areas unless prevented from doing
so by commitment as a result of a prior call:
A.
Broomall Fire Company: bounded on the north by Goshen
Road and Roberts Road, on the east by Sproul Road and Darby-Paoli
Road, on the south by Marple Township line and on the west by the
Newtown Township line.
B.
Bryn Mawr Fire Company: bounded on the north by North
Spring Mill Road and Sproul Road, on the east by County Line Road,
on the south by Landover Road and Haverford Township line and on the
west by Sproul Road.
C.
Radnor Fire Company: bounded on the north by the Tredyffrin
and Upper Merion Township lines, on the east by County Line Road and
Sproul Road, on the south by Sproul Road, North Spring Mill Road,
Bryn Mawr Avenue and Goshen Road and on the west by Newtown Township
line.
A.
If Broomall or Bryn Mawr Fire Companies require assistance
in fighting a fire in their districts of Radnor Township, the second
company to be called shall be the Radnor Fire Company.
B.
On a fire call for any of the boundary line roads,
the fire company receiving the call shall respond.
C.
The officer-in-charge of the fire company in whose
district the emergency occurs retains command of the emergency.
D.
If Broomall or Bryn Mawr Fire Companies are not available
to respond to an emergency in Radnor Township, Radnor Fire Company
shall be called and shall respond.
E.
Mutual aid will be extended by all fire companies,
depending on availability, as required by the officer-in-charge.
The annual compensation for service to be performed
as described above shall be determined by the Radnor Township Board
of Commissioners, said compensation to continue from year to year
until termination by either party at the end of any calendar year.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate
a provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000. Each day that a violation continues
shall be deemed a separate offense.
