A. 
The Auxiliary Fire/Rescue Squad was established under the Office of Civil Defense. The Office of Emergency Management has replaced the Office of Civil Defense without addressing many volunteers' needs. This will allow for the establishment of a Volunteer Fire/Rescue Company within the Bloomfield Fire Department, transferring all personnel and equipment to the Fire Department.
B. 
This shall identify the role and responsibility of the Volunteer Fire/Rescue Company.
A. 
Organization of Department.
(1) 
The Bloomfield Fire Department shall consist of a Career Department augmented by volunteer personnel. The number of personnel in each is determined by the Bloomfield Township Mayor and Council.
(2) 
The overall administrator and executive head of the Fire Department is the Fire Chief.
B. 
Career Department. See Article XXII, Membership.
C. 
Volunteer Company. The Volunteer Company shall augment the services that the Career Department currently provides for the townspeople of Bloomfield. The Volunteer Company shall consist of one fire/rescue company. The Company shall be supervised by a Captain and the number of Lieutenants, as determined by the Fire Chief, to efficiently manage the Volunteer Company. The Captain and Lieutenants shall be appointed from the Volunteer Company, with the Fire Chief's approval, and shall report directly to the Fire Chief.
A. 
Persons appointed to active membership in the Volunteer Fire/Rescue Company of the Bloomfield Fire Department shall have successfully passed the physical examination, psychological examination by a physician and criminal background check and be recommended by the Fire Chief for appointment to the Volunteer Company by the Township.
B. 
Upon appointment, all members shall be given the following for their use in departmental activities. The equipment shall be properly maintained.
(1) 
Work uniform.
(2) 
Complete set of firefighter protective clothing.
(3) 
Copy of Department rules and regulations.
(4) 
Copy of all standard operating procedures (SOPs) relevant to their position.
C. 
Annual renewal of appointment to the position of active member in the Volunteer Fire/Rescue Company is by the Fire Chief. It requires a minimum 50% attendance in drills and 25% attendance of all incidents of a working fire.
D. 
Those members who choose not to make the attendance requirements of the volunteer firefighter may choose to be an auxiliary firefighter. Auxiliary firefighters do not have the same fire-ground role as a volunteer firefighter. The auxiliary firefighters are more of a support function limited to outside the fire structure. Those roles are less stressful and less demanding.
A. 
All persons newly appointed to the Volunteer Company who do not meet the criteria for Firefighter I or better shall be classified and subject to the restrictions of probationary firefighter.
B. 
A probationary firefighter is restricted from entering a structural fire building for the purpose of any firefighting activity until such time that the Fireground Commander has declared the fire under control and determined that it is safe for probationary firefighters to enter for observation purposes.
C. 
All probationary firefighters must attend Firefighter I training classes as provided by the Fire Department or a county academy, at the discretion of the Chief of the Fire Department. Successful completion of the required course, along with recommendation by the Captain of the Volunteer Company, is required to advance to Firefighter I. Probationary firefighters shall also attend a minimum of 75% of scheduled drills during the first year.
A. 
The Captain shall be responsible for maintaining the proper operation and performance of the Volunteer Company, in a manner that is consistent with the Bloomfield Fire Department's policies, rules and regulations, Department orders and SOPs.
B. 
The Captain shall report to the Incident Commander at emergencies. The Captain shall then direct the Volunteer Company as required by the Incident Commander.
A. 
The Lieutenant shall be next in command to the Captain of the Volunteer Company.
B. 
The Lieutenant shall assume command in the event that the Captain is delayed or absent from emergencies or drills.
C. 
The Lieutenant shall report to the Incident Commander at emergencies. The Lieutenant shall then direct the Volunteer Company as required by the Incident Commander.
A. 
The Volunteer Company shall report to the Chief of the Bloomfield Fire Department.
B. 
The Chief of the Fire Department shall be the executive head of the Fire Department, charged with policy-making, planning, management and administration of the Department and all personnel, including all volunteer firefighters and officers, therein.
C. 
The Captains and Lieutenants, as appointed by the Fire Chief, shall have control over the Volunteer Company.
D. 
The Captain shall be responsible for the operation of the Volunteer Fire Rescue Company (and shall report to the Fire Chief or the Battalion Chief on duty depending on the nature of the situation).
[Amended 2-6-2023 by Ord. No. 23-1]
E. 
Lieutenants shall rank next below Captain and shall be in charge of a squad.
F. 
The authority of the officers of the Volunteer Rescue Company shall be limited to the members of the Volunteer Company.
A. 
There is only one calendar year for the Volunteer Company, this being from January 1 through December 31.
B. 
The calendar year is used to determine the percentage of attendance requirements that are met.
C. 
Attendance figures for the year are posted quarterly on the Volunteer Company bulletin board.
A. 
Personnel should arrive before the designated starting time and remain until all cleanup details are complete.
B. 
Credit for attendance is only given for members arriving within 15 minutes of starting time and remaining for the majority of the drill.
C. 
All personnel should bring all protective clothing to each drill.
D. 
Attendance lists are taken by the Captain, or their designee, of the Volunteer Company and are submitted to the Department Training/Safety Officer at the completion of the drill.
E. 
The Captain shall be responsible to complete the required departmental forms.
A. 
At all incidents or live training exercises, there shall be present the Fire Department Training/Safety Officer. This person is a member of the Career Department. Should the Fire Department Training/Safety Officer not be present, the Captain of the Volunteer Company shall appoint one, should the Volunteer Captain be the Incident Commander.
B. 
Should the Captain have to appoint one, the Safety Officer should be chosen from those with some experience in this field.
C. 
It is the responsibility of the Safety Officer to pay special attention to any activities that jeopardize the well-being of civilians or firefighters. Whenever possible, the Safety Officer shall not be involved in any tasks that would prevent the Safety Officer from acting effectively.
A. 
Training drills are conducted for Volunteer Company personnel twice per month, except in July, August and December (once a month).
B. 
Drills are usually scheduled for one weeknight and one Sunday.
C. 
Drills begin at 1900 hours on weeknights and 0900 hours on weekends.
D. 
Special drills can be called at the discretion of any officer with approval of the Fire Chief.
E. 
The content of the drills and training exercises may be recommended by the Captain of the Volunteer Company to the Department Training/Safety Officer for review and requires approval of the Fire Chief.
A schedule of the monthly drills should be prepared by the Training/Safety Officerof the Department and approved by the Fire Chief.
A. 
The Volunteer Company shall be subject to disciplinary action in the event of any infraction of Fire Department rules, regulations, policies and SOPs.
B. 
The violating member shall have charges submitted, in writing, with the charging party signing the charges.
C. 
The Fire Chief will then preside at the disciplinary hearing with all parties concerned present.
D. 
The Fire Chief will issue a written reply within seven days.