(a) 
There shall be maintained a fire department to provide a means for fire protection against conflagrations and other emergencies and the city shall provide for the maintenance, support, and regulation of the fire department.
(b) 
The city fire department is established. It shall be composed of various member groups, including, but not limited to, paid and volunteer firefighters, and support staff, as well as civilians.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(I), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-1; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(I), adopted 7/3/17)
The fire department shall:
(1) 
Protect life and property from fire and explosion hazards by prevention and suppression.
(2) 
Inspect commercial property for fire and safety hazards.
(3) 
Perform construction plan reviews to ensure public safety.
(4) 
Conduct public fire education to all aspects of the community.
(5) 
Enforce laws and ordinances related to fire, explosion, and life safety.
(6) 
Respond to and assume command of hazardous materials incidents.
(7) 
Perform confined space rescues, trench rescues, high angle rescues, and any other rescue situation in order to protect life and property.
(8) 
Enforce all nuisance codes within the city.
(9) 
Aggressively pursue criminal investigations in all cases of arson.
(10) 
Maintain all records in an efficient and orderly manner.
(11) 
Provide administrative support and records management relating to the foregoing functions.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(II), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-2; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(II), adopted 7/3/17)
(a) 
The fire chief or officer in command at the scene of a fire or other emergency involving the protection of life or property, or any part thereof, shall have the authority to direct such operation as necessary to extinguish or control any fire, perform any rescue operation, investigate the cause and/or existence of any suspected or reported fires, gas leaks or other hazardous conditions or situations, or taking any other action necessary in the reasonable performance of duty.
(b) 
In the exercise of such power, the fire chief, or his/her designee, is authorized to prohibit any person, vehicle, vessel, or thing from approaching the scene and is authorized to remove or cause to be removed or kept away from the scene any vehicle, vessel, or thing which could impede or interfere with the operations of the fire department and, in the judgment of the fire chief, or his/her designee, any person not actually and usefully employed in the emergency operation or in the preservation of property in the vicinity thereof.
(c) 
The fire chief, or his/her designee, at the scene of an emergency, is authorized to place ropes, guards, barricades, or other obstructions across any street, alley, place of private property in the vicinity of such operations so as to prevent accidents or interference with the lawful efforts of the fire department to manage and control the situation and handle fire apparatus.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(V), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-122; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(V), adopted 7/3/17)
(a) 
The operations of the fire department in connection with extinguishing any fire or other emergency shall not be obstructed.
(b) 
Lawful commands of the fire chief, or his/her designee in command of such a scene, or any part thereof, or any police officer assisting the fire department, shall not be disobeyed.
(c) 
Violation of this section shall be a class B misdemeanor offense punishable under section 38.15 of the Texas Penal Code, as it may hereafter be amended.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(VI), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-123; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(VI), adopted 7/3/17)
The department will respond to fire, medical, rescue, and hazardous materials calls outside the city within the boundaries of the designated area assigned to the city fire department by the intergovernmental agreement and the surrounding fire departments in and out of Moore County as provided by our mutual aid agreements. The decision on what apparatus, apparatus staffing, and the conditions under which the response is made is the decision of the chief of the fire department, or his/her designee.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(VII), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-124; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(VII), adopted 7/3/17)
The fire chief or his/her designee is authorized to investigate the cause, origin, and circumstances of unauthorized releases of hazardous materials. The police department is authorized to assist the fire department in its investigation when requested to do so.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(VIII), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-125; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(VIII), adopted 7/3/17)
(a) 
The office of the fire chief/fire marshal is created; they shall be one and the same. The fire chief is to have control of the fire department. The fire chief, or his/her designee, shall perform nuisance code, arson, fire prevention, and/or fire code matters. The fire chief shall be appointed by the city manager with approval of the city commission. The fire chief/fire marshal, and such deputies as may be authorized from time to time, shall be properly qualified for the duties of such office to serve as peace officers for the city, and shall be accorded all the privileges, duties, responsibilities, and immunities as state and local law may afford the peace officers and shall be removed only for cause. The fire chief/fire marshal and any such deputies shall not be members of the police department, but shall be an independent law enforcement agency.
(b) 
All members of the city fire department, whether paid, volunteer, support staff, or civilian, shall be under the command of the fire chief and subject to all the provisions of the constitution and laws of the state, the city charter, and the ordinances of the city, and the provisions of this chapter.
(c) 
The fire chief, or his/her designee, is given the authority to commission all officers, peace officers and firefighters and to activate their services when necessary.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(III.A–C), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-31(a)–(c); Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(III.A–C), adopted 7/3/17)
(a) 
The fire chief, or his/her designee, shall investigate the cause, origin, and circumstances of every fire occurring within the city by which property has been destroyed or damaged, and shall especially make investigation as to whether such fire was the result of carelessness or design. Such investigation shall be commenced within 24 hours of the occurrence of such fire. The fire chief/fire marshal shall keep in such officer’s office a record of all fires, together with all facts, statistics and circumstances, including the origin of fires and the amount of the loss, which may be determined by the investigation required by this section.
(b) 
The fire chief, or his/her designee, when in his/her opinion further investigation is necessary, shall take or cause to be taken the testimony, on oath, of all persons supposed to be cognizant of any facts or to have means of knowledge in relation to the matter under investigation, and shall cause such testimony to be reduced to writing.
(c) 
The fire chief, or his/her designee, shall have the power to summon witnesses before him to testify in relation to any matter which is, by the provisions of this article, a subject of inquiry and investigation, and may require the production of any book, paper, or document deemed pertinent thereto. The fire chief, or his/her designee, is hereby authorized and empowered to administer oaths and affirmations to any persons appearing before him/her as witnesses.
(d) 
All investigations held by or under the direction of the fire chief, or his/her designee, may, in his/her discretion, be private, and persons other than those required to be present may be excluded from the place where such investigation is held, and witnesses may be kept separate and apart from each other and not allowed to communicate with each other until they have been examined.
(e) 
If the fire chief, or his/her designee, shall be of the opinion that there is evidence sufficient to charge any person with the crime of arson, or with the attempt to commit the crime of arson, or of conspiracy to defraud, or criminal conduct in connection with any fire, he/she shall cause such person to be lawfully arrested and charged with such offense or either of them, and shall furnish to the proper prosecuting attorney all such evidence, together with the names of witnesses and all the information obtained by him, including a copy of all pertinent and material testimony taken in the case.
(f) 
Any witness who refuses to be sworn, or who refuses to appear or testify, or who disobeys any lawful order of the fire chief, or his/her designee, or who fails or refuses to produce any book, paper, or document touching any matter under examination, or who is guilty of any contemptuous conduct during any of the proceedings of the fire chief, or his/her designee in the matter of such investigation or inquiry, after being summoned to give testimony in relation to any matter under investigation, shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor under Texas state law and/or this Code of Ordinances.
(g) 
The fire chief, or his/her designee, shall have the authority, at all times of the day or night, when necessary in the performance of the duties imposed upon him by the provisions of this section, to enter upon and examine any building or premises where any fire has occurred, and other buildings and premises adjoining or near such premises, which authority shall be exercised only with reason and good discretion.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(III.D–J), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-31(d), (e), 38-32–38-36; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(III.D–J), adopted 7/3/17; Ordinance 1170, sec. 2, adopted 9/17/19)
The fire chief, or his/her designee, upon the complaint of any person having an interest in any building or property adjacent thereto, or without any complaint, shall have the right at all reasonable hours, for the purpose of examination, to enter into and upon all buildings and premises within the city, and it shall be his/her duty, monthly or more often, to enter upon and make or cause to be entered upon and made a thorough examination of all mercantile, manufacturing and public buildings together with the premises belonging thereto. Whenever he/she may find any building or other structure which, for want of repair, or by reason of age or dilapidation conditions, or for any cause, is especially liable to fire, and which is so situated as to endanger other buildings or property, or so occupied that the fire would endanger persons or property therein, and whenever he/she shall find an improper or dangerous arrangement of stoves, ranges, furnaces, or other heating appliances of any kind whatsoever, including chimneys, flues, and pipes with which such appliances may be connected, or a dangerous arrangement of lighting devices or electrical wiring, or a dangerous or unlawful storage of explosives, compounds, petroleum, gasoline, kerosene, dangerous chemicals, vegetable products, ashes, combustible or inflammable refuse materials, wastepaper, or rags, or other conditions which may be in character or liable to cause or promote fire or create conditions dangerous to firefighters combating a fire or to occupants, he/she shall order such conditions to be removed or remedied, and such order shall be forthwith complied with by the owner or occupant of the building or premises. If the owner or occupant deems himself aggrieved by such order he/she may, within 5 days, appeal such order to the city manager, who shall investigate the cause of the complaint, and unless such order is revoked by the city manager such order shall remain in force and be forthwith complied with by such owner or occupant. Any owner or occupant who fails [to comply with] such order within a ten-day period from the date of such notice shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Any owner or occupant who fails such order within a ten-day period from the date of such notice shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor under Texas state law and/or this Code of Ordinances.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(III.K), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-37; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(III.K), adopted 7/3/17; Ordinance 1170, sec. 3, adopted 9/17/19)
The fire chief, or his/her designee, shall develop, maintain, and implement standard operating guidelines, rules, regulations, and/or written department operating policies for the department, a copy of which shall be located at the fire station and in the city offices.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(III.N), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-63; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(III.N), adopted 7/3/17)
The fire chief, or his/her designee, shall determine the chain of command, and cause such to be recorded in the written department operating policies.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(III.O), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-64; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(III.O), adopted 7/3/17)
In case of fire or other emergencies, the fire chief, or his/her designee, shall assume control and be in command of the incident. In the absence of the fire chief, or his/her designee, the chain of command as established by the written department operating policies shall determine what officer is to assume authority and responsibility of the incident.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(III.P), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-65; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(III.P), adopted 7/3/17)
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, all activity concerning investigations into incidents of criminal arson shall be conducted and investigated by the fire chief/fire marshal or his/her designee.
(Ordinance 1091, sec. 2(III.Q), adopted 3/5/12; 2008 Code, sec. 38-66; Ordinance 1143, sec. 2(III.Q), adopted 7/3/17)