[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the City of Bordentown 2-28-1976 by Ord. No. 1977-4. Sections 39-6D, 39-7C
and 39-11F amended and § 39-11I added at time of adoption
of Code; see Ch. I, General Provisions, Art. II. Other amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter may be cited and referred to as
the "City of Bordentown Fire Department Ordinance of 1977."
For the purpose of this chapter, unless the
context clearly indicates a different meaning, the following definitions
shall apply:
A member of an individual volunteer fire company within the
city, sometimes collectively referred to herein as "firemen."
The motor vehicles, hoses, pumps, generators, lights, radios,
ladders, extinguishers, helmets, coats, boots and equipment of every
type and description used by and belonging to the companies.
The governing body of the City of Bordentown, sometimes referred
to herein as the "City Commissioners" or the "City Commission."
The meaning given or ascribed thereto in this chapter, sometimes
referred to herein as the "Board."
The meaning given or ascribed thereto in this chapter, sometimes
referred to herein as the "unit."
The Chief of the Fire Department of the city, who is annually
elected by the companies and who has overall command of the companies,
officers and firemen within the Fire Department.
The City of Bordentown, Burlington County, New Jersey.
The Clerk of the City of Bordentown.
An individual volunteer fire company within the city and
being either the Consolidated Fire Association of Bordentown, New
Jersey, or the Hope Hose Humane Company No. 1, sometimes collectively
referred to herein as the "companies."
A member who has been issued an exempt certificate pursuant
to the laws of the State of New Jersey relating thereto.
The Fire Department of the City of Bordentown, sometimes
referred to herein simply as the "Department," and composed of the
volunteer fire companies within the City of Bordentown and all of
their members and apparatus.
The Mayor of the City of Bordentown.
A person who has made application to and been elected to
membership in and by a company within the Department as a company
active fireman, sometimes collectively referred to herein as "members."
The Chief, Assistant Chiefs and Captains within the Department,
sometimes collectively referred to herein as the "officers."
A.Â
Every person seeking to become a member of the Fire Department shall make application, on the standard form provided, to the Department through the company of the Department which he desires to join, and upon his election to membership by said company after complying with the provisions of Subsection B of this and all other provisions hereinafter set forth in this chapter, he shall become an active member of the Department, whereupon the Secretary of said company shall provide him with a membership badge, which badge shall be kept on his person at all times.
B.Â
No person shall become a member of the Department
of the City who shall be below the age of 18 years or who shall be
above the age of 50 years. Such person shall be a citizen of the United
States and shall be in good physical condition to perform the duties
required of a fireman in accordance with a certificate to that effect
made and signed by a licensed physician of the State of New Jersey
after due physical examination for that purpose has been made by said
physician.
[Amended 10-16-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-15]
C.Â
No person who has been expelled from any other company of the Department for failure to perform the requirements set forth in Subsection D of this section shall be eligible to make application to any company for the purpose of becoming a member of the Department for at least a period of one year following such expulsion. The foregoing provision does not apply to persons who have resigned from any company while a member in good standing of said company.
D.Â
Every State of New Jersey active member of the Department
shall, in each and every calendar year, perform at least 60% of duty,
said duty being composed of answering fire alarms, actual attendance
at meetings, the care of apparatus and equipment attendance at drills
and all other duties required by the Department and his company.
E.Â
Upon application for a blue light permit pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:24-5.1
et seq., the applicant shall provide proof that the individual is
an active member in good standing of the volunteer fire company or
the volunteer first aid or rescue squad.
[Added 10-16-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-15]
A.Â
The Department shall organize and consist of one Chief and four Assistant Chiefs, all of whom shall be members of the Department and who shall be known as "Chief," "First Assistant Chief," "Second Assistant Chief," "Third Assistant Chief" and "Fourth Assistant Chief," respectively, and of as many fireman as now are or may hereafter become members of either of the companies within the city by complying with the provisions of § 39-3.
B.Â
The Consolidated Fire Association of Bordentown shall
be authorized to elect a total of three of its members for the positions
of Chief and/or Assistant Chiefs, and the Hope Hose Humane Company
No. 1 shall be authorized to elect a total of two of its members for
the positions of Chief and/or Assistant Chief, it being understood
that there shall be only one Chief and that such position of Chief
shall rotate yearly between the two companies, and the year during
which one company shall not be authorized to elect the Chief, all
the members elected by such company shall be Assistant Chiefs only.
C.Â
No person shall be eligible for the office of Chief
unless he shall be a resident of the City of Bordentown and shall
have served as a fireman in the city for a minimum of five years prior
to his selection. No person shall be eligible for the office of Assistant
Chief unless he shall be a resident of the City of Bordentown and
shall have served as a fireman in the city for a minimum of three
years prior to his selection.
[Amended 4-22-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-3]
D.Â
On January first of each year, the First Assistant
Chief shall become Chief, the Second Assistant Chief shall become
the First Assistant Chief, the Third Assistant Chief shall become
the Second Assistant Chief, the Fourth Assistant Chief shall become
the Third Assistant Chief, and the vacancy for Fourth Assistant Chief
shall be filled by an election to be held by the company from which
the outgoing Chief was a member. Exception to this rule of succession
shall be that at no time shall the First Assistant Chief be from the
same company as the Chief. When such a case may occur, the Second
Assistant Chief shall be bypassed by the highest ranking Assistant
Chief from another company, and the Second Assistant Chief shall remain
in that office for an additional one-year term.
E.Â
The Chief and Assistant Chiefs duly elected by their
respective companies each year shall hold their offices for one year
from the first day of January of each and every year. An oath or affirmation,
taken and subscribed before the Mayor or City Clerk to faithfully
perform the duties of their respective offices, is required of the
Chief and his Assistants, at the beginning of their terms, and the
same shall be filed with the City Clerk.
F.Â
There shall be one Captain for each fire-fighting
motor vehicle truck comprising a part of the apparatus, duly elected
by their respective companies each year, and shall hold their offices
for one year from the first day of January of each and every year.
G.Â
In case of vacancy of the office of Chief or an Assistant
Chief because of death, resignation or any cause other than hereinbefore
provided, then such vacancy shall be filled by an election for the
balance of the term to which such person was entitled.
H.Â
The duly elected Chief, Assistant Chiefs and Captains
shall be the only officers of the Department.
A.Â
The Chief and the First, Second, Third and Fourth
Assistant Chiefs, together with the Captains of the companies in the
Department, shall constitute and be known as the "Board of Engineers,"
of which the Chief shall be President and shall preside at the meetings
thereof.
B.Â
The Board shall meet prior to January 7 of each year
to reorganize and, at such reorganization meeting, elect a Secretary
and a Treasurer, who may be any member of the Department and need
not be a member of the Board of Engineers, but shall have no vote
unless a member of the Board.
C.Â
The Board shall meet at least once in every three
months and at such other times as the Chief or a majority of the members
of the Board shall call a meeting, and a majority of the members of
the Board shall constitute a quorum to transact business.
D.Â
All questions of dispute or difficulty that may arise
within the Department shall be brought before the Board of Engineers,
who shall, without delay, proceed to investigate the matter and, after
deliberation, shall decide between the parties interested, and such
decision when given shall be binding upon the parties concerned and
subject to no appeal.
E.Â
The Board shall be the sole authority for formulating
rules and regulations for the operation of the Department.
F.Â
A code of fire alarm signals for sounding alarms of
fires shall be established by the Board and shall be observed by the
entire Department. Such code of signals may be changed or modified
by the Board from time to time when, in the opinion of such Board,
such change or modification is in the best interests of the Department.
A.Â
It shall be the duty of the Chief to arrange the drills
and training of members so that they will include the proper and efficient
use of all apparatus.
B.Â
The Chief shall, in all cases of fire threatening
injury to or destruction of property, take prompt and effectual measures
and use the means of the Department to extinguish the fire. He shall
at all times have sole and absolute control and command over the apparatus
and over the members of the Department and over all other fire apparatus
aiding and assisting the Department in the event of fire.
C.Â
In the absence of the Chief, his command shall devolve
upon and his duties be performed by the First Assistant Chief; in
the absence of both the Chief and First Assistant Chief, the command
shall devolve upon and the duties be performed by the Second Assistant
Chief; in the absence of the Chief, First Assistant Chief and Second
Assistant Chief, the command shall devolve upon and the duties be
performed by the Third Assistant Chief; in the absence of the Chief,
First Assistant Chief, Second Assistant Chief and Third Assistant
Chief, the command shall devolve upon and the duties be performed
by the Fourth Assistant Chief. In the absence of all five of the foregoing,
the command shall devolve upon the officers of the Department assigned
by the Chief for that duty, and, in the absence of such officers so
delegated by the Chief, the command shall devolve upon the first arriving
officer in the locality of the fire. Upon the arrival of one or more
Assistant Chiefs, or the Chief, command shall revert to the ranking
Assistant Chief, or to the Chief, as the case may be.
D.Â
The Chief and Assistant Chiefs shall attend all fires
which may occur within the city limits or elsewhere where necessary
and called upon, and each of the foregoing in the order of seniority
of position is hereby authorized and empowered to take charge of any
burning building(s) and any other building(s) likely to be burned
or threatened with burning, and to admit only such and so many persons
who are not firemen to said building or buildings as they or either
of them may deem necessary to aid in extinguishing the fire and the
preservation of the buildings and surrounding property.[1]
E.Â
The Chief and the First, the Second, the Third and
the Fourth Assistant Chiefs or other officers shall wear, when on
duty, hats or helmets upon which shall be clearly shown the designation
of their respective offices.
F.Â
The Chief shall also, whenever so required by the
City Commission, make a report to it of any matter that it may desire
information upon, connected with the Department. He shall provide
a book in which he shall keep an account of his various official acts,
also a record and history of each fire, with the known or probable
cause of said fire. He shall, within 24 hours after the return of
the fire apparatus from the fire to the place or places where the
same are kept and housed, cause said apparatus to be carefully inspected
and see that it has been properly cleaned, hose reeled and placed
in position, and, to that end, it is hereby enjoined upon the Assistant
Chiefs, Captains and the firemen of the respective fire companies
of the city to help, aid and assist him in so doing. He shall cause
order to be observed in the Department in going to, working at and
returning from fires, and he shall have power to suspend from duty
any company, or any member of any company, for disobedience of his
orders when on duty.
G.Â
Each company shall file with the Secretary of the
Board of Engineers a monthly attendance report, on the standard form
provided by the Board, prior to the 10th day of the following month.
A.Â
No person who shall have been suspended or expelled
from the Department shall, during the period of such suspension or
expulsion, ride upon, use or answer fire alarms with any of the apparatus
or interfere with, handle or operate the same in any way or manner
whatsoever.
B.Â
No person shall at any time willfully and unnecessarily
drive or propel, or cause to be driven or propelled, any motor vehicle
upon or over any hose or any other apparatus of any company.
C.Â
Any person violating this section may be so charged
in the City Municipal Court upon complaint of the Chief or any Assistant
Chief of the Department and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less
than $25 and not more than $500 or be imprisoned for three months,
or both, in the discretion of the Court.[1]
Whenever an outside municipality shall contract
with the city for fire-fighting service, the Commissioners shall notify
each fire company of the existence of such contract, and alarms from
such municipalities shall be answered in such manner as may be directed
by resolution of the Commissioners, and, in other cases, no fire company
shall respond to an out-of-town alarm unless a request for assistance
shall be made by the Fire Chief of the municipality or district asking
for assistance and permission is given to the company designated to
answer out-of-town calls by the Chief or, in his absence, one of the
Assistant Chiefs.
A.Â
It shall be the duty of the officers of each company
to prevent all unauthorized persons from in any way handling or interfering
with the apparatus of the respective companies, to prevent any racing
of their company with any other company and to abstain and to cause
all members to abstain from any conduct likely to cause a breach of
the peace or to bring discredit on the Department.
B.Â
It shall be the duty of the Captain of each company
to ensure that the apparatus and firehouse of their company are protected
from danger by neglect, carelessness, vandalism, member misconduct
or otherwise.
C.Â
It shall be the duty of the Chief to ensure that company
officers have the firehouses properly maintained.
D.Â
No fire apparatus shall at any time be used on any
mere unnecessary trial of speed, skill or power, except, however,
that the provisions of this subsection shall not prevent competitions
between the companies or other events authorized by the Chief.
E.Â
All motor vehicle fire apparatus shall be subject
to the provisions of the motor vehicle and traffic laws of the State
of New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 39:1-1 et seq.) and shall have the right-of-way
as authorized emergency vehicles over any and all vehicles, ambulances
excepted, in responding to an alarm of fire.
A.Â
If any officer or member of the Department shall feel
aggrieved at or dissatisfied with any ruling, order or penalty given
or imposed by any of the other officers or acting officers, he shall
give a notice in writing, setting forth fully the time, place and
circumstances with the name of the officer, whereby he claims a grievance,
and stating the grounds of his alleged grievance. Upon filing of such
notice with the Chief of the Department, it shall become the duty
of the Chief to call together the Board of Engineers, and it shall
be its duty to afford the aggrieved officer or member of the Department
a full hearing of the matter in controversy, and the Board shall make
such ruling in the matter as should be made for the best interests
of the Department.
B.Â
Notice in writing to the member properly filing a
grievance shall be given by the Chief, by mail sent to the last known
place of residence of such aggrieved member, at least two weeks prior
to the hearing, setting forth the time and place of such hearing upon
such grievance.
A.Â
There shall hereafter be a unit of the New Jersey
State Fire Police Association, known as the "Bordentown Fire Police
Unit."
B.Â
The unit shall be composed of members from the companies
to be elected for a term of five years by the respective companies
at their monthly meeting in December of each year, and the Chief shall
appoint one of the number the Captain of such unit, who shall be designated
"Captain of Fire Police." The number of members elected from each
company shall be determined by the Board of Engineers.
C.Â
This unit shall have the authority to elect as many
and such officers as it deems necessary in addition to the Captain
appointed by the Chief.
D.Â
It shall be the duty of the unit at the time of fire
or emergency requiring the use of Department apparatus to expedite
the moving of Department apparatus to the scene of such fire or emergency,
protect such apparatus, take charge of the grounds and immediate vicinity
and to restrict or prohibit entry into the area to any and all persons
or vehicles who, in its opinion, would interfere with the duties of
the firemen or the operation of the apparatus. It shall also be the
duty of said unit, at the time of any such fire or emergency, to take
charge of and protect all goods, personal property and chattels that
may be moved and carried out of any place on account of such fire
or emergency and to see that the same are returned to the proper persons.
E.Â
For the purpose of carrying out the intent and provisions
of this section, the members of the unit shall be sworn in by the
Mayor or City Clerk, and said oath or affirmation shall be filed with
the City Clerk.
G.Â
Nothing herein contained shall prevent or hinder any
owner or bailee of any goods, personal property and chattels that
may be in danger of loss, damage or destruction from removing the
same from such place or places as he may see fit.
H.Â
Any member elected to this unit who, in the opinion
of the Captain of Fire Police, is not properly performing to the best
of his ability the duties outlined herein shall be relieved and replaced
by his respective company.
Any member of the Department who completes the
time required by law to become exempt by serving seven years as a
State of New Jersey active fireman under municipal control will be
entitled to apply for an exempt fireman certificate as provided for
by the statutes of the State of New Jersey. Any member of the Department
incapacitated by illness and no longer able to serve as an active
fireman may retire as an active member upon certification by a licensed
physician of the State of New Jersey that said member is physically
or mentally unfit for further service as an active fireman.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as
creating an agency relationship between the city and any company,
except that should the City Commission by ordinance contract with
any company or companies of the Department, the members of such company
or companies shall be under the supervision and control of the city
and in performing fire duties and shall be deemed to be exercising
a governmental function.