[CC 2008 § 10-400; Ord. No. 1682, 5-5-1986]
The Fire Chief shall be responsible for the discipline, good order and conduct of the department, the enforcement of all laws, ordinances and regulations pertaining thereto, and for the care and condition of the houses, engines, trucks, and all other property of the department. He/she shall have the superintendence, control, and command of all the men and women belonging to the department, all the engine houses and all other houses used for that purpose, and of all engines and fire apparatus belonging to the City. He/she shall likewise have control of all persons present at fires, and to that end shall ex officio have and exercise all of the powers of the Chief of Police thereat. He/she shall have power, if need be, to summon any and all persons present to aid in extinguishing a fire, and any person so summoned and aiding shall be entitled to a reasonable compensation as recommended by the Chief and allowed by the Board of Aldermen. He/she shall, when a fire breaks out, take immediate and proper measures for its extinguishment. He/she shall have the right to remove personal property from any building on fire or in danger thereof, and to guard the same. Any person refusing to obey the commands of the Chief while present at a fire shall be deemed guilty of an ordinance violation. The Chief shall have power to order the cutting down and removing of any building, erection, fence or other thing, if he/she shall deem it necessary for the purpose of checking a fire in its progress. In case of absence of the Chief from any fire, the Assistant Chief shall, for the time, have all the powers of the Chief and perform the duties of that office. The Chief may prescribe limits in the vicinity of a fire within which no person, excepting those who reside therein, members of the Fire or Police Department, and those admitted by order of the Chief or his/her assistant shall be permitted to come.