[4-9-2018 by Ord. No.
18-004]
The Fire Department shall be headed by the Fire Chief, who shall
be responsible for the operation, administration and control of the
Fire Department. The Fire Chief shall be appointed by and serve at
the pleasure of the City Manager pursuant to the City Charter.
[4-9-2018 by Ord. No.
18-004]
(a)
The Fire Chief shall be the operating head and commanding officer
of the Fire Department. He or she shall have control of the Department,
under the supervision and direction of the City Manager. He or she
shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by the Charter, any
ordinances of the City, laws of the State of Michigan, and such further
and other duties as shall be prescribed by the City Manager.
(b)
The Fire Chief shall have the power to issue such verbal or written
orders, rules, and regulations to firefighters and employees of the
Fire Department as he or she may deem proper, and it shall be the
duty of the firefighters and employees of said Department to fully
and completely obey his or her orders, rules and regulations, but
such orders, rules and regulations shall be in conformity with the
law.
(c)
The Fire Chief shall promulgate, subject to the approval of the City
Manager, employment standards for firefighters in accordance with
the State of Michigan.
(d)
The Fire Chief, or firefighters designated by the Fire Chief, shall
be in command and control of any incident scene and shall have the
authority to issue such verbal orders to any person at the scene as
may be reasonably necessary to protect life and property and to conduct
fire-suppression activities.
[4-9-2018 by Ord. No.
18-004]
(a)
All firefighters, unless designated otherwise by the Fire Chief,
are hereby authorized to extinguish fires, in conformity with the
ordinances of the City and the laws of the state, and shall have the
following powers and duties: to prevent and extinguish fires; and
in so doing may cause the removal of structures or materials, the
razing of walls of burning buildings, the cutting of openings in buildings,
breaking and entering, breaking down of partitions, and removal of
wiring, whenever, in their opinion, public safety requires that it
shall be done in order to retard the fire.
(b)
The Fire Chief, or any firefighter designated by him or her, upon
complaint of any person having an interest in any building or the
premises or property adjacent thereto, or at his or her own instance
without such complaint and without restraint or liability for trespass,
may, at any hour that shall be reasonable under the circumstances
involved, enter into and upon any building or premises within the
City for the purpose of inspection and examination thereof, together
with their occupancies and contents, for the discovery of the existence
of a fire hazard. Whenever he or she shall find any building or premises,
either public or private, which, for want of repairs, lack of or insufficient
fire escapes, automatic or other fire alarm apparatus, or fire-extinguishing
equipment, or by reason of age or dilapidated condition, defective
electrical wiring or electrical equipment, defective chimneys, defective
gas connections, defective heating apparatus, accumulation of rubbish,
waste materials or inflammable substances or decorations, or from
any other condition or for any reason whatsoever, may cause an otherwise
preventable fire or explosion or endanger other property or premises
or be dangerous to the public peace, security or safety, he or she
shall make and file a report of his or her findings with the Fire
Chief.
(c)
The Fire Chief, or his or her designee, shall determine to what extent
such dangerous conditions or materials shall be remedied or changed
and shall serve written notice to that effect on the owner or occupant.
The service of such notice may be made upon the occupant of the premises
to whom it is directed, either by delivering a copy of same to such
occupant personally or by delivering the same to and leaving it with
any person in charge of the premises. Whenever it may be necessary
to serve such notice upon the owner of the premises, it may be served
whether by delivering to and leaving with such owner a copy of the
notice or, if such owner is absent from the City, by mailing such
copy to the owner's last-known post office address, by certified mail.
[4-9-2018 by Ord. No.
18-004]
The Fire Chief shall provide prescribed rules for the governance of the Department firefighters of the City, subject to approval of the City Manager, which may be amended or revoked by the Fire Chief, upon notice to and approval by the City Manager. Such rules may establish one or more divisions within the Fire Department, each of which divisions may be charged with performing one or more functions of the Fire Department as enumerated in § 2-183. Any such division shall be supervised by a qualified employee of the Fire Department, who shall be responsible for the particular functions of the Fire Department assigned to the particular division supervised by him or her. It shall be the duty of all members of the Fire Department to comply with such rules and orders while effective.
