[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Winchester as indicated
in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted effective 7-1-1960; 5-13-1985 and 11-12-1985 (§§ 102 to 112 of the
prior compilation)]
The Town shall be divided into fire districts as follows:
A.
District No. 1: All that part of the Town lying westerly of a line
running in the center of High Street, at its intersection with Main
Street.
B.
District No. 2: All between the easterly line of District No. 1 and
the center line of Chestnut Street, extending to center line of Wetmore
Avenue.
C.
District No. 3: All between said center line of Chestnut Street to
the center line of Wetmore Avenue, extending to the east line of the
Town.
D.
District No. 4: All lying north of said center of Wetmore Avenue.
It shall be the duty of the Chief to have charge of all the
engines, hoses, hose vehicles and other tools and implements used
for fire purposes, belonging to the Town; also to have care of the
building used for storing the same and to see that they are in perfect
order at all times and ready for immediate use. Whenever any alarm
of fire is given, it shall be his duty to ascertain its locality,
and reach the same as soon as practicable, and at once take the direction
and give such orders to his assistants and others as he shall think
proper.
[Amended 5-6-2013]
A.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Chief, annually, to organize, by
voluntary enlistments, a company of not less than 10 nor more than
25 active members, as may from time to time be directed by the Board
of Selectmen, to serve as firefighters or support personnel for one
year from their first meeting in June of the then present year, each
of whom shall be found to observe all rules and regulations that may
be adopted from time to time by the Board of Selectmen, and to be
governed by the Chief and Deputies, and to comply with all their orders.
Upon obtaining the requisite number, the Chief shall present the names
to the Board of Selectmen for its approval. If no objections are made
by said Board of Selectmen, they shall be accepted as active members
of their respective companies. The foreman of each company shall be
known as "Captain," and the first and second assistant foremen shall
be known as "Lieutenants."
B.
An "active member" shall be defined as personnel whose duties are
primarily to perform work directly connected with interior and exterior
control and extinguishment of fires, or the maintenance and use of
firefighting apparatus and equipment, and shall include those personnel
performing a supervisory or support position. Active members shall
not include associate or honorary members.
It shall be the duty of each Deputy Chief, whenever an alarm
of fire is given, to proceed with all reasonable haste to the fire.
[Amended 5-6-2013]
The form of enlistment to be used for members of the fire companies
shall be as follows:
We, the undersigned citizens of the State of Connecticut, do
hereby enlist in (HOSE) (ENGINE) (LADDER) Company of said City of
Winsted, and engage to perform voluntarily the duties of firefighter
in said company for a period of one year from the first meeting in
June, A.D., _____, subject to all the ordinances of said City and
all the rules and regulations consistent with said ordinances as shall
from time to time be made and adopted by the Board of Selectmen, and
to comply with and obey all the orders of the Chief and Deputy Chiefs.
In case of the absence of the Chief, the Deputy who first arrives
at the fire shall act as Chief until said Chief arrives. In the case
of the absence of the Deputy whose company shall first arrive, the
chief officer of said company shall take charge until a superior officer
arrives upon the ground.
On reaching the fire, or the vicinity of the same, each Deputy
Chief shall report to the Chief.
[Amended 5-6-2013]
No member of said companies will receive any pay for services
as firefighters, except when ordered to remain on fire-watch service
by the Chief or his Deputies, or as may be provided by the City of
Winsted.
No person not a member of a company will be allowed to interfere
or meddle with an engine, hose vehicle, or any tools or implements
belonging to the Town, at any fire, unless requested to do so by the
Chief or his Deputies or some person in charge of the same.
A.
The Board of Selectmen shall have the right, as hereinafter set forth,
to remove the Chief or any of his Deputies, or any member of any fire
company. The fire companies shall have the power to make rules for
their own government, subject to the approval of the Board of Selectmen,
not inconsistent with the Charter of the Town of Winchester or any
of the bylaws or ordinances made by the Board of Selectmen.
B.
The right of the Board of Selectmen to remove any of the Deputies,
or any member of the fire company, shall be exercised only after all
internal disciplinary procedures of the Department have been exhausted.
The Board of Selectmen shall serve as an appeal board of last resort
only for disciplinary matters affecting personnel of the Fire Department.
[Adopted effective 1-25-1984; amended 5-20-2013 (§ 134
of the prior compilation)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The performance of all normal duties of an interior and exterior
firefighter or fire police officer.
The status of a firefighter who shall not respond to or attend
practices or drills, but who may attend meetings and exercise their
right to vote.
When any member of the Fire Department shall be hospitalized
for any reason, said member shall automatically be placed on the non-responder
list immediately upon their hospitalization. Said member shall only
be returned to active duty upon their presentation to the Fire Chief
or to a Deputy Fire Chief of a written certification by a physician
that said member is physically fit to return to active duty.
The Fire Chief and/or any Fire Officer in charge shall have
authority at any emergency scene to order a firefighter to obtain
immediate medical treatment and diagnosis and to submit to the Fire
Chief within 24 hours thereof a report as to their medical condition.
During said period, the firefighter shall be on non-responder status,
and shall remain on such until the Fire Chief is presented with written
certification that said member is physically fit to return to active
duty.
The Fire Chief, or a Deputy Fire Chief, shall have the authority
to request that a member of the Department be examined by the Department
medical authority to determine the physical fitness of said member
to be on active duty. Should a member so requested fail to obtain
and present to the requesting Fire Officer within seven days of the
date of said request a written certification of a physician that said
member is physically fit to be on active duty, the Fire Chief or Deputy
Fire Chief shall have the authority to place said member on the non-responder
list until such time as the member obtains such written certification.
The total number of requests to any single member shall not exceed
two per calendar year.
A.
Any member may request to be placed on the non-responder list. Such
status shall be effective immediately upon request.
B.
Any member who has been on the non-responder list for 180 consecutive
days or 180 total days in a 365-day period may, with or without their
consent, be removed from the Department by a majority vote of said
member's company, or by action of the Fire Chief.
C.
Any member who has been on the non-responder list for 365 days, whether
total or consecutive, may be removed from the Department by the Fire
Chief.
Each member of the Fire Department shall be required to have
a Department-approved physical examination every year, and those members
of the Department who have reached their 40th birthday shall be required
to have an annual examination which shall include an electrocardiogram.
All of said examinations shall follow the requirements as set forth
in the latest version of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA)
Standard 1582 and shall be at the expense of the Department. Each
member, when requested, shall present to the Fire Chief, or Deputy
Fire Chief, a written certificate that said member is fit for active
duty as a condition to signing over.
Any member aggrieved by the procedures contained in this article
shall have the right to appeal under the grievance procedures set
forth in the Department's bylaws.
Any member who is on the non-responder list and who performs
any duty inconsistent with such status shall be subject to charges
of insubordination and appropriate disciplinary action therefor.
