[Ord. 736, 5/6/1991, § 1]
It shall be unlawful for any person to actuate a fire alarm
system in any apartment house, dormitory, rooming or boarding house,
hotel or motel, school, hospital, or other institutional building,
municipal building or other place or public assemblage, where such
actuation constitutes a ofalse alarmo as defined herein.
[Ord. 736, 5/6/1991, § 2]
The actuation of a fire alarm system constitutes the setting
off of a ofalse alarmo when the alarm system is manually actuated
by the pulling or other operation of fire alarm box or switch and
the person so actuating the fire alarm system knows that there is
no fire or other hazardous condition in or about the building, or
has no reasonable cause to believe that such fire or hazardous condition
exists at the time of actuating the alarm system. A person shall not
be considered to have set off a false alarm if the person, being the
building's owner, manager, or agent of the owner, purposely actuates
the building's fire alarm system as part of a system of fire drills
conducted for the safety of the occupants of the building.
[Ord. 736, 5/6/1991, § 3; as amended by Ord. 787,
6/3/1996, § 1; and by Ord. 821, 9/1/1999, § 1]
1. Definitions.
DISABLED
A.
The battery necessary to operate the smoke or fire detection
device has been removed or disconnected without the immediate replacement
of same with a new battery (in the case of a battery-powered device).
B.
The smoke or fire detection device has been disconnected from
its electrical power supply or the power supply to the smoke or fire
detection device has been otherwise interrupted (in the case of non-battery,
electrical power devices).
C.
The smoke or fire detection device has been damaged, destroyed
or completely removed without the immediate replacement of same.
D.
The proper functioning of the smoke or fire detection device
has been obstructed, hindered or prevented by any other act.
E.
The battery that acts as the electrical power supply for the
smoke or fire detection device does not have sufficient charge to
power the device.
ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY
The primary or backup source of electricity for the smoke
or fire detection device.
OCCUPANT
Any person occupying a structure or being present in a structure.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1004, 1/27/2020]
SMOKE or FIRE DETECTION DEVICE
Any smoke, fire, rate-of-rise, heat or other fire detector
or any other device or system for the detection of smoke and/or incendiary
condition and the alerting of building occupants or others of such
smoke and/or incendiary condition.
2. Violation. It shall be unlawful for any occupant of any premises
equipped with a smoke or fire detection device to occupy said premises
in which any such detection/alerting device has been disabled or in
which any such detection/alerting device is unable to function.
[Ord. 736, 5/6/1991, § 4]
It shall be unlawful for any person to purposely blow or otherwise
direct smoke into a smoke detection device, or to engage in any other
conduct which the actor knows or should have reasonable cause to believe
will result in the actuation of a smoke or fire detection device,
where such device is installed in an apartment house, dormitory, rooming
or boarding house, hotel or motel, school, hospital or other institutional
building, municipal building or other place of public assemblage and
the device is interconnected to a central alarm system in the building
which is actuated by the actuation of any individual smoke or fire
detection device within the building. A person shall not be considered
to have misused a smoke or fire detection device within the meaning
of this Part if the person, being the building's owner, manager, or
agent of the owner or any authorized fire department or government
official acting in his or her official capacity, purposely actuates
a smoke or fire detection device as a means of testing the smoke or
fire detection and alarm system of the building.
[Ord. 884, 4/11/2005, § 1]
1. No person shall remain in a structure or building after a fire alarm
or fire alarm system has been actuated within the structure or building.
2. No person shall remain in a structure or building after having been
ordered to evacuate by a Code Enforcement Officer of the Town of Bloomsburg
as it relates to a code violation.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1004, 1/27/2020]
3. It shall be unlawful for an occupant of a structure which is threatened
by smoke and/or fire, or an occupant of a structure that is adjacent
to a structure that is threatened by smoke and/or fire, or an occupant
of a structure that is the subject of a 911 dispatch, to refuse an
order to evacuate a structure which is issued by a member of the Town
of Bloomsburg Fire Department, Inc., or by a member of the Town of
Bloomsburg Police Department.
[Added by Ord. No. 1004, 1/27/2020]
[Ord. 736, 5/6/1991; § 5; as amended by Ord. 782,
11/6/1995, § 4; by Ord. 841, 12/19/2001; by Ord. 884, 4/11/2005,
§ 2; and by Ord. No. 1004, 1/27/2020]
Any person violating a provision of this Part shall, upon conviction
in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine, not in excess
of $1,000, to be paid to the use of the Town of Bloomsburg, together
with the costs of prosecution, or to be imprisoned for not more than
10 days, or both. In the instance of a code violation, each day that
a violation of this Part continues or each section of this Part which
shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.