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Borough of Danville, PA
Montour County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Danville 10-17-1961 by Ord. No. 160; amended in its entirety 12-12-1989 by Ord. No. 329 (Ch. 12 of the 1975 Code). Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Police Department — See Ch. 49.
Emergency services reimbursement — See Ch. 115.
The several volunteer fire companies now in service in the Borough of Danville, namely, the Friendship Fire Company, Washington Fire Company, Continental Fire Company and Goodwill Fire Company, shall together form the Fire Department of the Borough of Danville, hereinafter designated as the "Fire Department." The fire companies as a Department shall be represented by the Danville Firemen's Executive Board.
The Fire Department shall be under the supervision of an officer to be known as the "Borough Fire Chief," a Deputy Fire Chief and three Assistant Fire Chiefs.
A. 
The Borough Fire Chief shall be elected biennially in the following manner: for the balance of the year 1961 and for the years 1962 and 1963, from the Goodwill Fire Company, for the years 1964 and 1965, from the Friendship Fire Company; for the years 1966 and 1967, from the Washington Fire Company; for the years 1968 and 1969, from the Continental Fire Company; for the years 1970 and 1971, from the Goodwill Fire Company; and thereafter in the same order every two years.
[Amended 3-7-2017 by Ord. No. 541]
(1) 
The term for the Borough Fire Chief may be extended from two years to four years. A vote will be taken after the second and third year to determine whether the Chief will stay on or the next Chief will take office. In order to proceed with the Chief's term extension, the Chief must request to stay on, and then there must be a unanimous vote by Fire Board members in favor of the request.
B. 
A new Assistant Fire Chief shall be elected every two years, in order of the company rotation system outlined in Subsection A, such elections to be conducted according to the bylaws of each company.
C. 
The Assistant Fire Chief who has the longer current continuous service as Assistant Fire Chief shall be the Deputy Fire Chief, so that the Deputy Fire Chief will become Borough Fire Chief in the year that the company which he represents is scheduled to have the Borough Fire Chief.
D. 
In the event that a company is unable to elect an Assistant Fire Chief meeting the qualifications outlined in § 24-6 of this chapter, that company will forfeit its Assistant Fire Chief for two years to the next company in line in the rotation in Subsection A. At the end of such two-year period, the company shall again have the opportunity to elect an Assistant Fire Chief meeting the qualifications. If the company is again unsuccessful, it shall forfeit its Assistant Fire Chief for another two years to the next company in the rotation. This process shall continue until the company is able to elect an Assistant Fire Chief meeting the qualifications.
The fire company entitled to select the Borough Fire Chief shall have the sole right to make the selection from the membership of its company. However, the Borough Fire Chief, the Deputy Fire Chief and all Assistant Fire Chiefs shall be subject to approval by the Danville Borough Council after first having been recommended to the Danville Borough Council by the Danville Firemen's Executive Board.
In the event that the Borough Council rejects the person selected for Borough Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief or any of the Assistant Fire Chiefs, then the fire company shall nominate another member for Borough Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief and/or Assistant Fire Chief and submit this name to the Danville Firemen's Executive Board for its recommendation and for subsequent approval by the Danville Borough Council.
A. 
The qualifications required for an individual to be elected as an Assistant Fire Chief are as follows:
(1) 
Five years' service in the Danville Fire Department.
(2) 
Completion of basic fire-fighting training.
(3) 
Completion of advanced fire-fighting training.
(4) 
Completion of officers' training.
(5) 
Completion of arson investigation training.
(6) 
Completion of hazardous materials training.
B. 
In addition, an Assistant Fire Chief must complete the following training courses prior to election or prior to completion of the end of the first two-year term of such Assistant Fire Chief:
(1) 
Building construction.
(2) 
Water supply.
C. 
State or local level training is satisfactory to meet the above requirements. Written certification of training course completion must be furnished to the Borough Fire Chief.
In the event of death, resignation or removal from office of the Borough Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief or an Assistant Fire Chief, the remaining Chiefs shall fill the vacancy by moving up in order of rank, subject to approval by the Borough Council pursuant to §§ 24-4 and 24-5 of this chapter. The company which lost its Chief by death, resignation or removal from office would elect a new Assistant Fire Chief for the balance of the two-year period. In the event that the company is unable to elect an Assistant Fire Chief meeting the qualifications outlined in § 24-6 of this chapter, the next company in the rotation would do so, pursuant to § 24-3D of this chapter.
Before assuming office as such, the Borough Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief and each of the Assistant Fire Chiefs shall take an oath, to be administered by the Mayor, to faithfully perform the duties of their respective offices.
The Borough Council shall have the authority to remove the Borough Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief or any Assistant Chief for inconsistency, neglect of duty or any other cause touching upon the duties and powers of such officer and his relations to the Fire Department.
The Borough Fire Department shall be paid such salary or compensation as shall be determined from time to time by the Borough Council.
[Amended 6-13-2000 by Ord. No. 412]
The Borough Fire Chief, or in his/her absence the Deputy Fire Chief or Assistant Fire Chiefs in order of rank, shall have the following duties:
A. 
He or she shall have complete charge of the handling of all firefighters and equipment in the fighting of all fires. He or she shall also have supervision over the firefighters and fire-fighting equipment, with the approval of the Borough Council, during parades in and out of the Borough.
B. 
He or she shall make careful inspections of all the buildings and other property in the Borough and report all violations of all state laws and Borough ordinances relating to fire hazards.
C. 
He or she shall furnish an annual itemized inventory before November 1 of each year to the Borough Council of all Borough-owned and company-owned fire-fighting equipment.
D. 
He or she shall submit the following reports, on a monthly basis, to Danville Borough Council:
[Amended 5-13-2003 by Ord. No. 449]
(1) 
Individual incident reports, on the form provided by the Borough, of all incidents responded to by the Fire Department.
(2) 
A monthly report of all fires and fire losses.
(3) 
A monthly report indicating all fire-fighting equipment that was destroyed, damaged, lost or stolen, during the month.
E. 
He or she shall conduct monthly fire drills and tests in accordance with the rules and regulations established from time to time by the Borough Council and the Mayor.
F. 
The Borough Fire Chief shall attend to all needed repairs of the fire hose and other fire-fighting equipment; provided, however, that the expenses involved shall first be approved by the Borough Council.
G. 
The Borough Fire Chief shall not permit any of the Borough fire-fighting equipment to attend out-of-town parades, conventions, etc., without first obtaining the approval of the Borough Council.
The Danville Borough Council, with the approval of the Mayor, by resolution or ordinance, may from time to time make further rules and regulations and provisions relating to the Borough Fire Chief of the Fire Department and the Borough Fire Department in general, provided that such rules and regulations do not violate any provisions of this chapter.