[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Camden 6-10-2003; amended 11-4-2008; 6-11-2013. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is intended to provide the Town of Camden with rules and regulations to enhance public safety by promoting the control of fire hazards; regulating the use of structures, premises, and open areas; providing for the abatement of fire hazards; and setting forth the standards for compliance and achievement of these objectives.
A. 
The Fire Chief shall have authority, along with the Code Enforcement Officer, to inspect premises related to compliance with fire prevention and protection codes adopted by the State Commissioner of Public Safety and/or incorporated into the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC). All decisions related to permits applied for under Chapter 290, Zoning, and MUBEC, as incorporated therein, shall be made by the Code Enforcement Officer and may be appealed in accordance with the Town of Camden Zoning Ordinance, Article V.
B. 
The Fire Chief shall have authority, along with the Code Enforcement Officer, to enforce state fire protection rules and the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code in accordance with 25 M.R.S.A. § 2361.
A. 
Application to the municipality for licenses and permits requiring inspection provided by the Camden Fire Department, which shall include but not be limited to liquor licenses, victualer licenses, lodging licenses and special amusement permits, shall include the Fire Department's completed review of the application and its required approval.
B. 
The Fire Chief or his agent shall have the authority to require an inspection of the activity site prior to approval of an application.
C. 
Any application for, or acceptance of, any license or permit requested or issued pursuant to this chapter shall constitute agreement and consent by the person making the application or accepting the license or permit (licensee) to allow the Fire Chief or his agent to enter the premises at any reasonable time after licensee receives notice to conduct such inspections as required by the code.
A. 
This chapter shall be administered and enforced by the Fire Chief or an assigned agent. It shall be the duty of the Fire Chief and his assigned agents to enforce all laws and ordinances of Camden covering the following:
(1) 
Extinguish fires and save life and property therefrom;
(2) 
Demolish or pull down any building which may be on fire, or which may be deemed necessary to remove in order to prevent the spread of fire or the increase of danger to life or property;
(3) 
The prevention of fires;
(4) 
The storage and use of explosives and flammables;
(5) 
The maintenance and regulation of fire escapes;
(6) 
The means and adequacy of exit in case of fire, from factories, schools, hotels, lodging houses, public facilities, hospitals, churches, halls, theaters, amphitheaters, and all other places in which numbers of persons work, live, or congregate, from time to time, for any purpose;
(7) 
The investigation of the cause, origin, and circumstances of the fires;
(8) 
The maintenance of fire cause and loss records.
B. 
The Fire Chief of the Camden Fire Department may delegate any of his powers or duties under this article to any such member of the Camden Fire Department as deemed appropriate.
C. 
It shall be the duty of the Fire Chief of the Camden Fire Department to investigate and to recommend to the Town Manager and Select Board such additional ordinances, or amendments to existing ordinances, as may be deemed necessary for safeguarding life and property against fire.
Any alarm system that causes the transmittal of a nonemergency alarm more than three times in any calendar year, after a thirty-day start-up period for new installations, shall pay a penalty of $100 for each subsequent instance of a nonemergency alarm in excess of that number, upon demand by the Fire Chief or his agent. The Fire Chief or his agent shall give suitable written warning to any permit holder, or to his designated agent, whose alarm system sends a third nonemergency alarm in any calendar year. In the event an alarm is activated as a result of a natural or unnatural event beyond the property owner's control (for example, disruption of the electrical service due to storm, motor vehicle accident), no fee shall be imposed.
A. 
This chapter shall be effective November 11, 2008. Any amendments to this chapter shall be effective as of the date of adoption by the Town of Camden Town meeting.
B. 
Whenever the requirements of this chapter are in conflict with the requirements of any other lawfully adopted rule, regulation, or ordinance, the more restrictive requirements shall govern.
If any section, subsection, clause or phrase of this chapter shall be held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions of this chapter, and to that end, the provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable.