[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, §§ 1,
2; G.O. No. 755, §§ 1, 2; G.O. No. 1091, § 18]
The volunteer force of firemen shall be composed of one company
of not exceeding 75 members.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 3; G.O.
No. 1091, § 19; G.O. No. 1102, § 1]
All volunteer firemen shall be appointed by the Fire Chief, with the approval of the Town Administrator and consent of the Mayor. Every volunteer fireman at the time of his appointment shall have the qualifications prescribed for members of the uniformed force of paid firemen, either by law or by Section 11-24; except, that any volunteer fireman may be under the age of 21 years but shall be at least 18 years of age at the time of appointment.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 4; G.O.
No. 1091, § 20]
Every application for appointment as a volunteer fireman shall
be in the handwriting of the applicant, upon a blank furnished by
the Fire Chief which shall be filed with the Fire Chief upon completion.
The applicant shall state his age, residence and occupation and give
evidence of his citizenship. The applicant shall signify his willingness
to abide by the ordinances, rules and regulations governing the Fire
Department.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 13; G.O.
No. 1091, § 21]
All volunteer firemen shall answer and attend all alarms of
fires within the Town. Members shall proceed without delay to the
place of alarm and report to the officer in command. Roll shall be
called at the fire house upon returning from every fire or alarm of
fire.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 14; G.O.
No. 661; G.O. No. 1091, § 22]
All volunteer firemen shall be under the direction of the Fire
Chief or his Deputy in command at all fires and alarms of fires. The
officer in command at any fire shall have the power summarily to suspend
any volunteer fireman for disobedience, misconduct or neglect of duty,
such suspension to continue subject to the approval of the Fire Chief
until the Town Council shall take action thereon. No volunteer fireman
shall leave the scene of a fire until all apparatus is ready to return
to headquarters unless permission to leave has been granted by the
Fire Chief or his Deputy in command.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 15; G.O.
No. 1091, § 23]
Any member of the volunteer force who may desire to resign shall
forward his resignation to the Fire Chief. If no charges exist against
him, the Fire Chief shall accept such volunteer fireman's resignation.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 16; G.O.
No. 1459, § I]
A member of the volunteer force shall be a resident of the Town
of Westfield or be employed within the Town of Westfield or be a resident
of a municipality contiguous to the Town of Westfield. Any member
of the volunteer force who fails to meet the aforesaid criteria shall,
upon failure to file his resignation within 30 days after his circumstances
change so that he does not meet these criteria, be dropped from the
rolls of the Fire Department.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 17; G.O.
No. 1091, § 24]
Exemption certificates will be granted to all members of the
volunteer force who have served as active firemen for the term prescribed
by law and have performed sufficient fire duty for the same number
of years, either successively or in the aggregate. The time served
shall be certified to by the Town Clerk and Fire Chief and the sufficiency
of fire duty performed shall be certified to by the Fire Chief.
[1932 Revision, Title 5, Ch. 1, Art. 3, § 18; G.O.
No. 1091, § 25]
The Fire Chief shall keep a roll of the active and exempt members
of the volunteer force, with the dates of their admission, exemption
and resignation. He shall also keep on file all applications for membership.
[G.O. No. 661; G.O. No. 1091, § 26]
It shall be the duty of the Fire Chief or his Deputy in charge
at any alarm to be responsible for crediting the officers and members
of the volunteer force with attendance at such alarm and to credit
the officer or member of the volunteer force with such attendance
if such officer in charge has granted such member permission to leave.
[G.O. No. 1106, § 1; G.O. No. 1311, § 1;
G.O. No. 1379, § I]
(a)
Any volunteer fireman who shall fail to attend at least 60% of the
volunteer training drills conducted by the department in any calendar
year, or who shall fail to respond to at least 20% of the general
and mutual aid alarms in any calendar year, shall be removed from
membership in the department and shall not be eligible for clothing
allowance or other benefits for such year. Leave of absence, for a
period not to exceed one year, may be granted by the chief of the
Fire Department, upon written application, for good cause shown.
(b)
Only general and mutual aid alarms, box alarms transmitted over the
home alerting system and volunteer training drills shall be included
in computing attendance percentages for qualification for exempt status
of volunteer firemen.
(c)
All volunteer firemen in good standing shall be entitled to receive
a clothing allowance for each calendar year as permitted by law, based
and computed upon credits earned by each such fireman during such
calendar year; except, that no volunteer fireman shall be entitled
to such allowance who has failed to attend at least 20% of the total
number of general and mutual aid alarms, box alarms transmitted over
the home alerting system and volunteer training drills during such
calendar year.
Credits shall be earned by volunteer firemen in the following
manner:
(1)
For attendance at a general or mutual aid alarm, 1 1/2
credits.
(2)
For attendance at a Box No. 5 alarm, one credit.
(3)
For attendance at a civil disorder or snow emergency alarm,
three credits for each 12 hours or portion thereof on duty.
(4)
For attendance at a still alarm, 1/2 credit.
(5)
For attendance at a volunteer training drill, one credit.
(6)
For sleep-in duty at fire stations, three credits, plus credits
for alarms rung during such duty, except as hereinafter limited.
(7)
Credit will be given to a volunteer fireman for all general
or mutual aid alarms rung during a period in which he is on duty,
whether or not he shall actually respond, but no such credit will
be given for Box No. 5 or still alarms rung during such period, unless
the volunteer shall actually respond to and attend such alarms.
(d)
For the purpose of computing clothing allowances, the maximum allowance for any volunteer fireman shall be $400. Each volunteer fireman shall be entitled to such percentage of the maximum allowance, up to a maximum payment of $400, as shall result from dividing the total number of credits earned by such volunteer fireman in the calendar year, as determined under Subsection (c) of this section, by 80% of the total number of credits occurring during such calendar year.
