[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Shamokin 3-14-1977 by Ord. No. 241; amended in its entirety 1-9-2012 by Ord. No. 12-01. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The several fire companies of the City, the Friendship (10), Liberty (20), Rescue (30), Independence (40), West End (50) and Emergency Squad (60) and special units such as the Fire Police which may be considered for company status or units which may be comprised of members representing any or all of the above-mentioned companies, are hereby formed into an association to be known as the "Volunteer Fire Bureau of the City of Shamokin, Pennsylvania."
It shall be the duty of each of the said companies named in this chapter and all of the other fire companies thereafter be formed, to appoint said company Captain and two Lieutenants (hereinafter "regular representatives") to constitute a Board of Representatives, in whom shall be vested the administrative power to enact laws, rules and regulations, subject to the approval of City Council, for the government of the said Fire Bureau, to enforce obedience of the same and to receive and disburse moneys for all purposes connected with their organization. Each such company shall also appoint two alternate representatives to the Board of Representatives. One such alternate shall be designated as first alternate and the other as second alternate. Should any of that company's regular representatives be absent from a meeting of the Board of Representatives, the first alternate shall take his/her place and have the full rights and privileges that the regular member would have had at the meeting had he/she been present. In the further absence of the first alternate representative, the second alternate representative will assume the rights and privileges of the absent regular member of the Board of Representatives. If two of the company's regular representatives are absent from a meeting of the Board of Representatives, both the first alternate representative and the second alternate representative, if present at the meeting, may assume the full rights and privileges of the absent regular representatives. The designated alternate representatives need not be qualified as line officers.
It shall be the duty of the said Board of Representatives at its first regular meeting and for such term as it may see proper to elect from its own members all officers necessary for the government of the Bureau. It shall perform such duties as prescribed by the laws of the Bureau and ordinances of the City.
All appropriations made by the City Council of Shamokin for the use of any or all of the said fire companies shall be paid only to authorized persons of the said companies as determined by the City Council.
All fire companies in the City of Shamokin, or any companies hereinafter to be formed or organized for the protection of life and property, shall not receive any regular yearly appropriation from the City of Shamokin unless they become members of and conform to the rules and regulations of said Fire Bureau and ordinances and regulations of the City. Special or supplement appropriations to the Fire Bureau or to any special unit for any specific purpose may be at the discretion of City Council.
Members of the Bureau shall know the chain of command as follows:
A. 
Director of Public Safety.
B. 
Chief.
C. 
Assistant Chief.
D. 
Deputy Chief.
E. 
Battalion Chief.
F. 
Captain.
G. 
First Lieutenant.
H. 
Second Lieutenant.
A. 
Each said company shall have a Captain, First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant.
B. 
To be eligible for the office of Captain or Lieutenant, the individual must reside within 10 miles of the City limits of the City of Shamokin and must be a qualified driver of the apparatus for his or her company during his or her entire term of office.
C. 
The candidate must have completed and received a certificate for:
(1) 
Fundamentals of Firefighting or Essentials of Firefighting or Firefighter I certification;
(2) 
Structure Burn Session [which may be received as part of Subsection C(1), above];
(3) 
Thirty hours of additional PSFA-approved structural firefighting or building construction course or Firefighter II certification;
(4) 
Hazardous Materials Operations with valid refresher;
(5) 
National Incident Management System (NIMS) certification and as prescribed by FEMA for those persons with departmental command.
D. 
It shall be the duty of the Captain, First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant to report to the Chief, in writing, before the last day of each month, for each call for assistance his or her company responded to, all the information requested for the Chief. The Captain shall provide, in writing to the Chief, a true and correct list of all regular drivers in his or her company. The Captain shall be responsible for qualifying all the drivers of his or her company for the safe and accurate operation of the apparatus his or her company houses.
E. 
Failure to maintain residency as required will be considered as a resignation to be filled by the company.
[Amended 9-8-2014 by Ord. No. 14-04]
A. 
All candidates for Chief shall submit applications to the Fire Bureau if they are members of any company comprising part of the Fire Bureau. The Bureau will conduct investigations to determine if the applying candidates are qualified or the position of Chief. When a decision is made by the Bureau, the approved candidate's name will be forwarded to the City Council for final approval. In the event of a vacancy during the term of office of the Chief, the above procedure will be followed to appoint a successor.
B. 
All current Chiefs shall be allowed to complete their terms of office.
A. 
No candidate shall be eligible for the office of Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and or Battalion Chief who is not a resident of the City of Shamokin or who lives within the boundary of the Township of Coal at the time of his or her election and for the entire term of his or her office. The candidate must also be an active firefighter from one of the companies comprising the Bureau for a full term of eight years immediately preceding the candidate's election. The candidate must be a member in good standing in the candidate's company and shall have attended at least 30% of the candidate's company's nonmedical alarms during each of the five years immediately preceding election. The candidate must have completed and received a certificate for all of the following:
[Amended 9-8-2014 by Ord. No. 14-04]
(1) 
Fundamentals of Firefighting or Essentials of Firefighting or Firefighter I certification;
(2) 
Structure Burn Session [which may be received as part of Subsection A(1), above];
(3) 
Thirty hours of additional PSFA-approved structural firefighting or building construction course or Firefighter II certification;
(4) 
Hazardous Materials Operations with valid refresher;
(5) 
National Incident Management System (NIMS) certification and as prescribed by FEMA for those persons with multijurisdictional command.
(6) 
Introduction to Fire Officer (sixteen-hour classroom-based) or Fire Officer 1 Certification;
(7) 
Incident Safety Officer (ISO);
(8) 
Arson Detection (sixteen-hour) or Arson Investigation (sixteen-hour).
B. 
The candidate must have served his or her company as a line officer for five years prior to the candidate's taking office. Before taking office and at the start of each two-year period when moving from Battalion Chief to Deputy Chief to Assistant Chief and then to Chief, good physical condition must be certified by a physician selected by the City, according to City standards. The candidate's company must submit its candidate to the Board of Representatives no later than July 1 prior to the candidate taking office. The Board must submit the candidate to the City Council no later than October 1 prior to the candidate taking office.
A. 
The Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief shall have full control and command of all personnel and equipment, including the alarm system and communication systems, in all cases of fire, fire alarms or other related civil emergencies when called to respond which are necessary for the efficient operation of the Fire Bureau and for the protection of life and property, subject to the approval of the Director of Public Safety.
B. 
The Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, and Battalion Chief shall keep an account of all City property entrusted to their care and that of the Fire Bureau, make annual inventories of all equipment and keep detailed reports of all fires in a book provided for this purpose by the City. Such record book shall always be subject to the order of the City Council or the Fire Bureau. Monthly reports shall be made considering such matters as the condition of the apparatus and equipment, county and state reporting system, and the property of the City entrusted to the various companies. Such report shall be referred to the City Council through the Director of Public Safety.
C. 
The Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, and Battalion Chief shall be protected in the discharge of their duties by the City Police Bureau.
D. 
The Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief shall keep a duty roster indicating which Chief is available for weekend and holiday service. It shall be their responsibility to have one Chief Officer on call at all times, rotating this duty between them. This roster shall be posted with the County Communications Center and the Director of Public Safety.
E. 
The Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief shall establish a training program, plan an annual memorial service in memory of departed firefighters of the City Fire Bureau, conduct year-round fire prevention activities (and in particular the observance of Fire Prevention Week programs), and shall maintain a program of good public relations, in conjunction with the Director of Public Safety.
F. 
Requests for equipment and the immediate readiness of apparatus and equipment deficiency shall be made to the Director of Public Safety.
A. 
The Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief shall attend all fires and emergency calls and assist the Chief in the discharge of his or her duties. They shall be under the direction of the Chief and will comply with the chain of command.
B. 
Should the Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief or Battalion Chief be unable to fill his or her term, the Captain of said company shall be acting Battalion Chief until the vacant position is filled. The remaining Chiefs on office shall assume temporarily the next highest rank until the vacant position is filled.
[Amended 9-8-2014 by Ord. No. 14-04]
The several fire companies herein named, special units, the Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, Battalion Chief, fire officers, firefighters and all other members and officers of the Fire Bureau shall in all cases be governed by the rules and regulations of the Bureau, ordinances of the City and special action of the City Council.
From time to time there may be a reason to establish within the Fire Bureau special units which require special skills and/or training, and in that event said special units shall be subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the Director of Public Safety, subject to the approval of the City Council. Any special unit shall be permitted the use of property and equipment belonging to the City.
Each and all companies shall be held responsible for the carrying out and obeying by its members, the constitution, bylaws, rules and regulations of the Bureau and the ordinances of the City.
The Bureau will develop and maintain a minimum training standard for firefighter training found in NFPA 1001 and will provide a basis of training for entry-level training for volunteer firefighters. The NFPA 1001 (Firefighter I and II) standard identifies the minimum job performance requirements for career and volunteer firefighters whose duties are primarily structural in nature, and the purpose of this standard shall be to ensure that persons meeting the requirements of this standard who are engaged in firefighting are qualified. Firefighters shall show proficiency in performing the designated skills and tasks in accordance to the Shamokin Fire Bureau operations and procedures with the test skill objectives designated in the Firefighter I practical exercises and evaluated by the designated training officer.
A. 
The several fire companies belonging to the Shamokin Fire Bureau shall not take the apparatus and equipment from the limits of the City or Coal Township without first obtaining the consent of the Fire Chief or, in his or her absence, the Assistant Chief or Deputy Chief or Battalion Chief or Safety Director.
B. 
Whenever City apparatus has been sent from the limits of the City for duty, information to this effect shall be relayed to all fire officials (Fire Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, Battalion Chief and the Director of Public Safety). Permission, however, shall not impede the automatic movement of equipment as set up under the mutual aid program. Permission for City equipment to be used outside of the City limits for parades and other nonemergency functions shall be obtained from the Fire Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief or Battalion Chief and the Director of Public Safety shall be notified so that City Council can be so informed.
The Fire Chief and Assistant Chief and Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief shall, before entering upon their duties, have their election ratified by a majority vote of the said City Council, and it shall be the duty of the said officers to subscribe to an oath for the faithful performances of their respective duties after their election is ratified by the said Council.
All apparatus and equipment purchased by the City of Shamokin shall remain the property of the City until such time as the City Council by appropriate motion, resolution or ordinance shall direct otherwise. Any property of the City which is in possession of the members of the several fire companies and/or special units of the City Fire Bureau shall, at all times, be under the charge of and responsibility of the Fire Chief and Assistant Fire Chief and Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief and the Director of Public Safety. Except for items purchased by an individual firefighter for his or her personal use, apparatus and equipment purchased by any of the above member companies, or related organizations, or received by any of the above through donation, gift, bequest or other means, shall remain the property of the individual company, unless otherwise prohibited by any law, ordinance, rule or regulation.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Chief, the Assistant Chief, the Deputy Chief, the Battalion Chief and all other City officials to sign charges or information against any person or persons tampering with fire alarms, radio equipment or any other property belonging to the City in an unlawful or destructive manner. This also pertains to the violations of the ordinances of the City, laws of the commonwealth, FCC laws and regulations and other laws and regulations of the federal government that might apply to arson or the safety and welfare of the citizens of the City of Shamokin.
The authority of the Fire Chief and the Assistant Chief and the Deputy Chief and the Battalion Chief is set forth in this chapter. The authority of the City Director of Public Safety or Commissioner is set forth and prescribed in accordance with the Third Class City Code[1] under duties of department heads, and as outlined in Ordinance No. 10, dated February 7, 1950, or any amendments thereto. This authority shall prevail and the Mayor and City Council shall be the final authority in all matters pertaining to any and all departments or bureaus or Personnel of the City of Shamokin, its equipment, employees or appointees as well as buildings owned by the City.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 11 Pa.C.S.A. § 10101 et seq.
Ordinance 241, Ordinance 357, Ordinance 02-06 and all other ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
This chapter shall take effect immediately upon final enactment.