[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City
of Sunbury 8-10-2020.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance repealed former Ch. 11, Fire
Department, adopted 5-23-1922 by Ord. No. 26.
The several fire companies of the City, to wit: Sunbury Steam
Fire Company No. 1, incorporated December 3, 1870; Rescue Hose Company
No. 1, incorporated December 18, 1888; Americus Hose Company, incorporated
November 9, 1893; Friendship Hose Company, incorporated January 25,
1896; East Sunbury Hose Company No. 1, incorporated March 10, 1896;
and the Good Will Hose Company, incorporated November 20, 1899, be
and are hereby formed into a volunteer association to be known as
the "Sunbury Fire Department," which is hereby established to provide
the resources (equipment and manpower) necessary to protect the residents
of the City of Sunbury from fire and other natural or man-made disasters,
dangers or threats.
A.
Right to recognize other fire companies. Nothing in this chapter
shall prohibit the City from recognizing or supporting other fire
companies or emergency services organizations who may provide such
protection, now or in the future, as the City deems appropriate, necessary
or desired.
A Board of Representatives is hereby created. The said Board
is hereby vested with the power to enact laws, rules and regulations
for the government of the Sunbury Fire Department and the Fire Police
herein authorized, and to compel obedience to the same; also to receive
moneys and to disburse the same for the purposes of supporting the
Sunbury Fire Department. Each member company of the Department shall
be entitled to three representatives, who shall be elected or appointed
at stated periods and for such terms as the regulations of the Department
may provide.
It shall be the duty of the Board to elect from its members
all officers necessary for the government of the Sunbury Fire Department.
Candidates for the Board officers may also come from the Department
membership at large.
The officers of the Department shall be a Fire Chief, First,
Second and Third Assistant Chiefs and such other officers as the regulations
may provide. Persons eligible to hold the office of Chief or Assistant
Chief shall maintain their primary residence within five miles of
the Sunbury city limits during their entire term in office, unless
prevented by severe or emergency circumstances. Persons eligible to
hold the office of Chief or Assistant Chief shall have been an active
member of at least one of the several city fire companies for a minimum
of three years immediately preceding his/her election or appointment
to a Chief office. Chief officer eligibility shall also be subject
to other criteria as may be established, from time to time, by the
Sunbury Fire Department or by City Council. This provision shall not
apply to the representatives or officers of the Board. All officers,
representatives and Board officers must at all times be in good standing
in their respective companies.
The Chief and Assistant Chiefs, or officers in charge, shall
in case of fire alarms, or other calls for emergency response, have
full control over all emergency operations and may occupy the ground
or space necessary for the operation of the Fire Department and apparatus
under normal conditions. In the event of a declared state of emergency
in the City, overall control of all emergency operations shall fall
under the command of the City Emergency Management Coordinator. The
Fire Police shall furnish help for the Department and, if necessary,
the Chief or Assistant Chiefs may call upon the Mayor or his legal
representative for the help of the City Police, Emergency Management,
or other resources as necessary.
The Fire Department shall be governed by the City ordinance
creating it and rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, provided
that all such rules and regulations shall, before becoming operative,
be approved by the City Council and the Mayor.
The City hereby establishes the position of Emergency Services
Administrator (ESA), and may, at its option, or at the request of
the Fire Department, fill or vacate said position at any time. The
City and Fire Department shall work in close cooperation on the needs
of the Fire Department when establishing duties and responsibilities,
and in selection of the ESA. The ESA shall be responsible for ensuring
that the overall management of emergency services, i.e., Fire Department,
Fire Police, etc., except the Police Department, operating within
or on behalf of the City, are operating efficiently and safely based
on the City needs. The ESA shall be responsible for establishing and
managing these services with regard to policies, procedures, protocols,
training criteria and schedules, in addition to other duties assigned
or established as necessary. Specific duties and responsibilities
may be modified as needs change. The ESA shall be appointed by the
City Council and shall serve until a successor is named. The ESA shall
serve as liaison between emergency services and City Council and shall
mediate all disputes. The ESA shall have command authority in the
absence of the Fire Chief or other command grade officer. In the absence
of the ESA, or if this position is not filled by City Council, the
Fire Chief or Assistant Chiefs, in order of succession, shall assume
the duties of the ESA.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Chief to record and report
all fires or emergency responses through the NIMS Reporting System,
or the current acceptable reporting system in use, required by any
federal, state, or local agency. The Fire Chief shall also make a
monthly report to City Council via the ESA, or in his/her absence,
the Director of Public Safety, of all emergency responses carried
out by any member company of the Sunbury Fire Department. The Fire
Chief shall provide an annual summary report of all emergency responses
for the Sunbury Fire Department, no later than the first meeting in
February of the following calendar year.
The Chief and Assistant Chiefs, before entering upon their duties,
shall have their election ratified by a majority vote of the City
Council. These officers shall, immediately after ratification of their
election by the City Council, subscribe to an oath, prescribed by
the Department and administered by the Mayor, for the faithful performance
of their duties.
The Fire Chief is hereby empowered to fine, suspend or expel
any member of any company for disobedience of orders of officers in
charge of the Department at fires or any other emergency response
to which the Department has been called. The individual so punished
may appeal the suspension or expulsion to the Fire Department Board
of Representatives within 30 days of the imposition of the penalty.
After review of the facts, the Fire Department Board of Representatives
shall make a final determination on the punishment imposed.
In case of an emergency response, all fire apparatus, the Fire
Chief and Assistant Chiefs, Director of Public Safety, ESA, and, in
the case of a declared state of emergency by the Mayor, the Emergency
Management Coordinator, shall have the right-of-way over and upon
the streets, lanes and alleys of the City of Sunbury, and all other
traffic shall, immediately upon seeing or hearing the approach of
an emergency response vehicle, proceed to the right side of the street
upon which they are moving and stop until all fire apparatus or other
emergency response vehicles have passed. Individual members of the
Fire Department may then proceed to the scene of the fire with due
caution but must park their cars at least two blocks from the fire.
The Fire Police shall consist of up to five members in good
standing from each company, elected or appointed as each company may
determine, and who when duly qualified shall serve until their successors
are duly qualified, elected or appointed. The Fire Police shall have
full power to regulate traffic and keep crowds under control during
fires and other emergency responses to which they are called. The
officers of the Fire Police shall be sworn into office and commissioned
by the Mayor. The Mayor shall also swear in and commission the other
members of the Fire Police upon approval of the City Council. The
Fire Police shall be under the control and direction of the City ESA,
Fire Chief or Assistant Chiefs in charge at the fire or other emergency
response, or under the control and direction of the governing body
of the municipality in which they are operating. At all times, the
Fire Police shall act in accordance with the provisions of Title 35
of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Chapter 74, Subchapter
D.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 Pa.C.S.A. § 7431 et seq.
The Director of Public Safety shall provide, in the annual budget
of the City Council, a sum sufficient for maintenance of the Fire
Department.
A.
All money appropriated by the City to the Fire Department shall be
deposited into interest-bearing accounts in the name of each fire
company and the Fire Police. The Sunbury Fire Department Board of
Representatives will manage the accounts, and all requests for the
use of funds must go through a Fire Department approval process. Funds
requests can only be made to support firefighting or emergency response
purposes, i.e., purchase of emergency response equipment or supplies,
replacement of firefighting equipment, apparatus or equipment repair,
etc. Funds may also be used to help offset the costs of insurance
and utility bills, for apparatus debt reduction, or any other costs
directly related to emergency response. Surplus funds shall be held
in the Fire Department managed accounts for future use by the companies
as needed. No money shall be released to individual companies for
general use or for nonemergency response activities. The Fire Department
will implement safeguards to ensure funds are used for their intended
purpose.
B.
The Fire Department Treasurer shall provide an itemized report to
Council on the disposition of any appropriated funds from the City.
These reports shall be submitted monthly and annually. Failure to
provide reports in a timely manner may result in future funding being
withheld.
