[HISTORY: 1968 Code Chapter 33 §§ 33-1 —
33-23 as amended through 12-28-2015. Amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby adopted by the Borough of Wildwood Crest the
fire control measures and regulations as herein set forth for the
purposes of controlling conditions which could impede or interfere
with fire suppression forces.
The Fire Official or his duly authorized representatives as
may be in charge at the scene of a fire or other emergency involving
the protection of life and/or property are empowered to direct such
operations as may be necessary to extinguish or control any suspected
or reported fires, gas leaks or other hazardous conditions or situations
or of taking any other action necessary in the reasonable performance
of their duty. The Fire Official may prohibit any person, vehicle
or object from approaching the scene and may remove or cause to be
removed from the scene any person, vehicle or object which may impede
or interfere with the operations of the Fire Department. The Fire
Official may remove or cause to be removed any person, vehicle or
object from hazardous areas. All persons ordered to leave a hazardous
area shall do so immediately and shall not reenter the area until
authorized to do so by the Fire Official.
It shall be unlawful to interfere with, attempt to interfere
with, conspire to interfere with, obstruct or restrict the mobility
of or block the path of travel of any Fire Department emergency vehicle
in any way or to interfere with, attempt to interfere with, conspire
to interfere with, obstruct or hamper any Fire Department operation.
A person shall not willfully fail or refuse to comply with any
lawful order or direction of the Fire Official or interfere with the
compliance attempts of another individual.
A vehicle shall not be driven or propelled over any unprotected
fire hose of the Fire Department when laid down on any street, alleyway,
private drive or any other vehicular roadway, without the consent
of the Fire Official in command of said operation.
Authorized emergency vehicles shall be restricted to those which
are defined and authorized under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
Upon the approach of any authorized emergency vehicle giving
audible and visual signal, the operator of every other vehicle shall
immediately drive the same to a position as near as possible and parallel
to the right-hand edge or curb of the street or roadway, clear of
any intersection, and shall stop and remain in such position until
the authorized emergency vehicle or vehicles shall have passed, unless
otherwise directed by the Fire Official or a police officer.
It shall be unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, other
than one on official business, to follow closer than 300 feet to any
fire apparatus traveling in response to a fire alarm or to drive any
vehicle within the block or immediate area where fire apparatus has
stopped in answer to a fire alarm.
A person shall not, without proper authorization from the Fire
Official in charge of said Fire Department emergency equipment, cling
to, attach himself to, climb upon or into, board or swing upon any
Fire Department emergency vehicle, whether the same is in motion or
at rest, or sound the siren, horn, bell or other sound-producing device
thereon or manipulate or tamper with or attempt to manipulate or tamper
with any levers, valves, switches, starting devices, brakes, pumps
or any equipment or protective clothing on or a part of any Fire Department
emergency vehicle.
It shall be unlawful for any person to damage or deface or attempt
or conspire to damage or deface any Fire Department emergency vehicle
at any time or to injure or attempt to injure or conspire to injure
Fire Department personnel while performing departmental duties.
A. The driver of any emergency vehicle, as defined in §
33-6 of this ordinance, shall not sound the siren thereon or have the front red lights on or disobey any existing traffic regulation, except when said vehicle is responding to an emergency call or when responding to, but not upon returning from, a fire. Tactical strategies, such as but not restricted to move-ups, do not constitute an emergency call. The driver of an emergency vehicle may:
(1) Park or stand irrespective of the provisions of existing traffic
regulations.
(2) Proceed past a red or stop signal or other sign, but only after slowing
down as may be necessary for safe operation.
(3) Exceed the prima facie speed limit so long as he does not endanger
life or property.
(4) Disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning
in specified directions.
B. The exemptions herein granted to an emergency vehicle shall apply
only when the driver of any such vehicle, while in motion, sounds
an audible signal by bell, siren or exhaust whistle, as may be reasonably
necessary, and when the vehicle is equipped with at least one lighted
lamp displaying a red light visible under normal atmospheric conditions
from a distance of 500 feet to the front of such vehicle.
A. It shall be unlawful to obscure from view, damage, deface, obstruct
or restrict the access to any fire hydrant or any Fire Department
connection for the pressurization of fire suppression systems, including
fire hydrants and Fire Department connections, that are located on
public or private streets and access lanes or on private property.
B. If upon the expiration of the time mentioned in a notice of violation,
obstructions or encroachments are not removed, the Fire Official shall
proceed to remove the same. Costs incurred in the performance of necessary
work shall be paid from the municipal treasury on certificate of the
Fire Official and with the approval of the chief administrative official,
and the legal authority of the municipality shall institute appropriate
action for the recovery of such costs.
A person shall not use or operate any fire hydrant intended
for use of the Fire Department for fire suppression purposes unless
such person first secures a permit for such use from the Fire Official
and the water company having jurisdiction. This section shall not
apply to the use of such hydrants by a person employed by and authorized
to make such use by the water company having jurisdiction.
The Fire Official shall recommend to the chief administrative
official of the municipality the location or relocation of new or
existing fire hydrants and the placement or replacement of inadequate
water mains located upon public property and deemed necessary to provide
an adequate fire flow and distribution pattern. A fire hydrant shall
not be placed into or removed from service until approved by the Fire
Official.
All new and existing shipyards, oil storage plants, lumberyards,
amusement or exhibition parks and educational or institutional complexes
and similar occupancies and uses involving high fire or life hazards
and which are located more than 150 feet from a public street or which
require quantities of water beyond the capabilities of the public
water distribution system shall be provided with properly placed fire
hydrants. Such fire hydrants shall be capable of supplying fire flows
as required by the Fire Official and shall be connected to a water
system in accordance with accepted engineering practices. The Fire
Official shall designate and approve the number and location of fire
hydrants. The Fire Official may require the installation of sufficient
fire hose and equipment housed in accordance with the approved rules
and may require the establishment of a trained fire brigade when the
hazard involved requires such measures. Private hydrants shall not
be placed into or removed from service until approved by the Fire
Official.
A person shall not obstruct, remove, tamper with or otherwise
disturb any fire hydrant or fire appliance required to be installed
or maintained under the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code, except
for the purpose of extinguishing fire, training or testing purposes,
recharging or making necessary repairs or when permitted by the Fire
Official. Whenever a fire appliance is removed as herein permitted,
it shall be replaced or reinstalled as soon as the purpose for which
it was removed has been accomplished. Defective and nonapproved fire
appliances or equipment shall be replaced or repaired as directed
by the Fire Official.
A person shall not sell, trade, loan or give away any form,
type or kind of fire extinguisher which is not approved by the Fire
Official or which is not in proper working order or the contents of
which do not meet the requirements of the Fire Official. The requirements
of this section shall not apply to the sale, trade or exchange of
obsolete or damaged equipment for junk when said units are permanently
disfigured or marked with a permanent sign identifying the unit as
junk.
A person or persons shall not erect, construct, place or maintain
any bumps, fences, gates, chains, bars, pipes, wood or metal horses
or any other type of obstruction in or on any street within the boundaries
of the borough. The word "street," as used in this ordinance, shall
mean any roadway accessible to the public for vehicular traffic, including
but not limited to private streets or access lanes, as well as all
public streets and highways within the boundaries of the Borough.
A. The following structures shall be equipped with a key lock box at
or near the main entrance or such other location required by the Fire
Chief:
(1) Commercial or industrial structures protected by an automatic alarm
system or such structures that are secured in a manner that restricts
access during an emergency;
(2) Multi-family residential structures that have restricted access through
locked doors and have a common corridor for access to the living units;
(3) All governmental facilities and industrial facilities.
B. All newly constructed structures subject to this section shall have
a key lock box installed and operational prior to the issuance of
an occupancy permit. All structures in existence on the effective
date of this section and subject to this section shall have a one-year
period from the effective date of this section to have a key lock
box installed and operational.
C. The Fire Chief shall have the authority to approve the type of key
lock box system to be implemented throughout the borough.
D. The owner or operator of a structure required to have a key lock
box shall, at all times, keep a key in the lock box that will allow
for access to the structure.
E. The Fire Chief shall be authorized to implement rules and regulations
for the use of the lock box system.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with any provision
of this ordinance are hereby repealed.
Should any section, paragraph, sentence or word of this ordinance
or of the Code hereby adopted be declared for any reason to be invalid,
it is the intent of the municipality that it would have passed all
other portions of the ordinance independent of the elimination herefrom
of any portion as may be declared invalid.
A. Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter or fails
to comply therewith or who shall violate or fail to comply with any
order made thereunder or who shall build in violation of any detailed
statement of specifications or plans submitted and approved thereunder
or any certificate or permit issued thereunder and from which no appeal
has been taken or who shall fail to comply with such an order as affirmed
or modified by the Board of Commissioners or by a court of competent
jurisdiction within the time fixed herein shall, severally for each
and every such violation and noncompliance, respectively, upon conviction
thereof be punishable by a fine of not less than $2,000 or by imprisonment
for not more than 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
The imposition of one penalty for any violation shall not excuse the
violation nor permit it to continue, and all such persons shall be
required to correct or remedy such violations or defects within a
reasonable time and, when not otherwise specified, each 10 days that
the prohibited conditions are maintained shall constitute a separate
offense.
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B. The application of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent
the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
C. Any person who owns or operates a structure subject to this chapter
shall be subject to penalties set forth in this section for any violation
of this chapter, provided that the minimum fine for a conviction of
this shall be $1,250.
This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon final passage
and publication according to law.