Village of Grantsburg, WI Fires and Fire Prevention

The Fire Chief and assistants or officers in command at any fire are hereby vested with full and complete police authority at fires. Any officer of the Fire Department may cause the arrest of any person failing to give the right-of-way to the Fire Department in responding to a fire.

The Fire Chief may prescribe certain limits in the vicinity of any fire within which no persons, excepting firefighters and police officers and those admitted by order of any officer of the Fire Department, shall be permitted to come.

The Chief shall have the power to cause the removal of any property whenever it shall become necessary for the preservation of such property from fire or to prevent the spreading of fire or to protect the adjoining property, and during the progress of any fire he shall have the power to cause the removal of all wires or other facilities and the turning off of all electricity or other services where the same impede the work of the Fire Department during the progress of a fire.

Fire inspection duties.

The Fire Chief shall be the Fire Inspector of the Village of Grantsburg and shall have the power to appoint one or more Deputy Fire Inspectors and shall perform all duties required of the Fire Inspector by the laws of the state and rules of the Department of Safety and Professional Services, particularly § 101.14, Wis. Stats.

While acting as Fire Inspector pursuant to § 101.14(2), Wis. Stats., the Fire Chief, or any officer of the Fire Department designated by the Fire Chief, shall have the right and authority to enter any building or upon any premises in the Village of Grantsburg at all reasonable hours for the purpose of making inspections or investigations which, under the provisions of this Code of Ordinances, he may deem necessary. Should the Fire Inspector find that any provisions of this Code relating to fire hazards and prevention of fires are being violated, or that a fire hazard exists which should be eliminated, it shall be his duty to give such directions for the abatement of such conditions as he shall deem necessary and, if such directions are not complied with, to report such noncompliance to the Village Board for further action.

The Chief of the Fire Department is required, by himself or by officers or members of the Fire Department designated by him as Fire Inspectors, to inspect all buildings, premises and public thoroughfares, except the interiors of private dwellings, for the purpose of ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fire or any violations of any law or ordinance relating to fire hazards or to the prevention of fires. Such inspections shall be made at least once per year in all of the territory served by the Fire Department.

Written reports of inspections shall be made and kept on file in the office of the Chief of the Fire Department in the manner and form required by the Department of Safety and Professional Services. A copy of such reports shall be filed with the Village Clerk.

§ 294-3 Damaging fire hose or apparatus; obstruction of hydrants; parking near fires.

Driving over fire hose. No person shall willfully injure in any manner any hose, hydrant or fire apparatus belonging to the Village, and no vehicle shall be driven over any unprotected hose of the Fire Department when laid down on any street, private driveway or other place, to be used at any fire or alarm of fire, without the consent of the Fire Department official in command.

Parking vehicles near hydrants. It shall be unlawful for any person to park any vehicle or leave any object within 10 feet of any fire hydrant at any time.

No parking near fire. It shall be unlawful for any person, in case of fire, to drive or park any vehicle within one block from the place of fire without the consent and authority of the Fire Chief or any police officer.

§ 294-4 Authority to enter adjacent property.

Entering adjacent property. It shall be lawful for any firefighter while acting under the direction of the Fire Chief or any other officer in command to enter upon the premises adjacent to or in the vicinity of a building or other property then on fire for the purpose of extinguishing such fire, and in case any person shall hinder, resist or obstruct any firefighter in the discharge of his duty as is hereinbefore provided, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of resisting firefighters in the discharge of their duty.

Destruction of property to prevent the spread of fire. During the progress of any fire, the Fire Chief or his assistant shall have the power to order the removal or destruction of any property necessary to prevent the further spread of fire, provided that it is inevitable that, unless such property is removed, other property is in danger of being destroyed by fire.

§ 294-5 Duty of bystanders to assist.

Every person who shall be present at a fire shall be subject to the orders of the Fire Chief or officer in command and may be required to render assistance in fighting the fire or in removing or guarding property. Such officer shall have the power to cause the arrest of any person or persons refusing to obey said orders.

§ 294-6 Vehicles to yield right-of-way.

Whenever there shall be a fire or fire alarm or the Fire Department shall be out for practice, every person driving or riding in a motorized or other vehicle shall move and remain to the side of the street until the fire engine and fire truck and other fire apparatus shall have passed.

§ 294-7 Interference with use of hydrants.

No person shall occupy any portion of such streets or alleys with a motorized or other vehicle between such fire engine or fire truck or other fire apparatus and any hydrant to which a fire hose may be, or may be about to be, attached.

§ 294-8 Open burning.

Open burning prohibited. Except as provided in Subsection C below, no person shall engage in the open burning of any garbage, solid waste, grasses, or other refuse of any kind on any public property or private property located within the Village of Grantsburg. This prohibition on burning includes burning of construction waste and debris at construction sites.

Definitions. The following definitions shall be applicable in this section:

BURNABLE YARD WASTE

Leaves, yard and garden debris, excluding grass clippings, and brush including clean woody vegetative material less than three inches in diameter.

DESIGNATED AREA

An open pit with a minimum size of nine square feet.

GARBAGE

Discarded materials resulting from the handling, processing, preparation, storage, cooking and consumption of food, and discarded animal feces.

OPEN BURNING

Burning from which the products of combustion are emitted directly into the air without passing through a stack or chimney.

REFUSE

All matters produced from industrial or community life, subject to decomposition.

SOLID WASTE

Garbage, refuse, recyclable materials, grasses, and all other discarded or salvageable solid materials, including solid waste materials resulting from industrial, commercial, and agricultural operations, and from domestic use and public service activities.

Exceptions.

Outdoor cooking over a fire contained in a device or structure designed for such use is permissible. This includes the open burning of fuel for cooking food, such as a barbecue or other similar outdoor activity, if confined to a proper cooking device such as a grill or in an open pit.

Recreational burning pits not exceeding four feet in diameter and not located less than 25 feet from any structure are permissible (the burning of clean wood only is permitted and the use of burning pits to burn refuse is prohibited); recreational burning pits shall be extinguished by 12:00 midnight.

Yard waste (herein defined as "burnable yard waste") may be burned on private property only, and such burning activity must be supervised by an adult who must remain within 50 feet of such burning activity. The Village Board shall designate dates/times when open burning of burnable yard waste is permitted.

Controlled burning of grass or similar vegetation for environmental management purposes, with the prior written approval of the Fire Chief, or his designee, may be permitted; this exception is not used for the burning of grass, leaves or other lawn debris.

(5)

Ceremonial campfire or bonfires, with prior approval of the Fire Chief, or his designee, may be permitted.

(6)

Other occasions of desirable outdoor burning not specified by this subsection, but not as an alternative to refuse removal or disposal for which other methods are available, may be granted single occasion approval as in Subsection C(4) and (5) above.

(7)

Open burning is permissible when a permit is issued.

Application for permit.

Procedure for issuance of burning permit. The Fire Chief or his designee shall have the authority to issue special burning permits allowing open burning in circumstances not listed in Subsection C of this section as deemed appropriate. The permit issuer may also establish from time to time special rules or restrictions relating to open burning by permit. An open burning permit is not required at such times when there is a minimum of two inches of snow cover, provided that all other open burning regulations are complied with. Such rules may govern conditions including, but not necessarily limited to, the following:

(a)

Day(s) and hours when any open burning permitted shall be conducted between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 12:00 midnight, Monday through Saturday. Such burning is prohibited at any time on Sunday and the following holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Open burning is permitted at any time when the ground has a minimum of two inches of snow cover.

(b)

Material which may or may not be burned.

(c)

Whether open burning is allowed or whether burning is only allowed with an approved incinerator or burning device.

(d)

The length of time the permit is valid.

(e)

What constitutes an approved burning device or incinerator.

(f)

The size of the material pile burned by open burning.

(g)

The distance or distances to be maintained between the material being burned and other flammable material.

(h)

Supervision required for burning, including minimum age of supervisors and type of fire-extinguishing equipment which must be present at the burn site.

(i)

The manner in which ashes created by the burning under the permit are to be disposed of.

Issuance of permit. If the permit issuer finds that the proposed burning complies with all Village ordinances and the regulations contained in Ch. SPS 314, Wis. Adm. Code, he shall approve the application, and a burning permit shall subsequently be issued to the applicant. A copy of any burning permit and the application therefor shall be kept on file with the Fire Chief. No burning permit issued shall be valid for more than 30 days from the date when issued.

Open burning regulations. The following regulations shall be applicable for open burning:

All open burning shall be performed in a safe, pollution-free manner, when wind and weather conditions are such as to minimize adverse effects, and in conformance with local and state fire regulation. Open burning shall not be used to covertly burn plastic, construction debris or other prohibited materials.

Startup shall be accomplished by using kindling materials rather than waste oil, tires or other rubber materials.

The size of the pile of material to be burned shall not exceed four feet in any direction measured horizontally, or three feet measured vertically.

The pile of material being burned shall be at least 50 feet away from any structure, wood or lumber pile, wooden fence, trees, or bushes. Provisions shall be made to prevent the fire from spreading to within 50 feet of such items or the fire shall otherwise be contained in an approved incinerator or burner device which is located at least 15 feet from any structure, wood or lumber pile, wooden fence, trees, or bushes.

(5)

Any ashes created by burning such material as is lawful under this section are to be disposed of in a manner authorized by law.

(6)

Open burning shall be constantly attended and supervised by a competent person of at least 16 years of age until the fire is extinguished. This person shall have readily available for use such fire-extinguishing equipment as may be necessary for the total control of the fire while burning and/or extinguishing such fire.

(7)

No materials may be burned upon any street, curb, gutter, sidewalk, or drainage ditch.

Fire hazard conditions. The Fire Chief of the Grantsburg Volunteer Fire Department shall have the authority to ban all open burning when weather conditions are such that open burning would threaten life and/or property.

Penalties.

The first time a person is informed by the Fire or Police Department that he is in violation of any provision of this section, he will be directed to extinguish the fire. The officer issuing the directive shall record the same in the daily police log. Failure to comply with the directive shall result in a penalty imposed as herein provided.

Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this section shall be subject to forfeiture as prescribed in § 1-4 of this Code. Each violation and each day a violation continues or occurs shall constitute a separate offense. The imposition of a penalty under this section shall not prohibit the Village from maintaining a separate action against the violator to secure monetary damage for any damage caused by the burning.

§ 294-9 Patio fireplaces.

Patio fireplaces are permitted in the Village of Grantsburg as long as they are commercially purchased units that enclose the entire fire area within the patio fireplace. Homemade units must meet the approval of the Fire Chief. The chimney area and viewable area of the patio fireplace must be screened with a spark-reduction device at all times the patio fireplace is in operation. The patio fireplace shall only burn a readily combustible fuel source that consists of wood, charcoal, or manufactured fireplace logs. The burning of trash, leaves, wood with a chemical treatment (railroad tie, fence post, power pole, etc.), or other materials that tend to create a noxious or annoying smoke discharge are not allowed. This section does not allow for below-ground campfires or other device fires not clearly authorized in this section or § 294-8C(2). Upon the complaint of two or more persons to the Police or Fire Department that the patio fireplace is causing annoyance, the person responsible for the patio fireplace shall immediately discontinue the use of the device.

§ 294-10 Restrictions during extreme danger of fire.

Declarations of emergency. When there occurs a lack of precipitation, there may exist an extreme danger of fire within the Village of Grantsburg. This extreme danger of fire affects the health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of the Village of Grantsburg and constitutes a state of emergency. It is hereby found that the regulation of fires, burning materials, and fireworks is necessary and expedient for the health, safety, welfare and good order of the Village of Grantsburg during said emergency.

Regulation of fires, burning materials and fireworks. When a burning state of emergency is declared, it may be ordered that a person may not:

Set, build, or maintain any open fire, except:

(a)

Charcoal grills using charcoal briquettes, gas grills, or camp stoves on private property; or

(b)

Charcoal grills using charcoal briquettes, gas grills, or camp stoves in Village parks placed at least 20 feet away from any combustible vegetation.

Throw, discard or drop matches, cigarettes, cigars, ashes, charcoal briquettes or other burning materials while outdoors except into a noncombustible container that does not contain combustible materials.

Light or ignite a flare, except upon a roadway in an emergency.

Light, ignite, or use anything manufactured, processed, or packaged solely for the purpose of exploding, emitting sparks or combustion for amusement purposes, including fireworks, firecrackers, bottle rockets, caps, toy snakes, sparklers, smoke bombs, or cylindrical or cone fountains that emit sparks and smoke, except in displays authorized by the Village where adequate fire prevention measures have been taken.

Periods of emergency.

The periods of emergency for which this section shall be in effect shall be during such periods that Burnett County, Wisconsin, is under Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources emergency fire regulations banning outdoor smoking and campfires, or when necessary as determined by the Fire Chief.