The Fire Department of East Norriton Township shall consist of the Norriton Fire Engine Company and any companies as the Board of Supervisors of East Norriton Township may from time to time receive into the Department by ordinance or resolution.
A. 
Officers shall be as stated in Article II of the Company's bylaws Preamble.
B. 
The officers of the Norriton Fire Engine Company shall consist of a President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, nine Trustees, Financial Secretary-Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Recording Secretary, Fire Chief, Chief Engineer, and Fire Police Captain elected by the Company members as set forth in the bylaws of the fire company.
The Fire Department and all personnel comprising the Fire Department shall at all times conform to any and all rules and regulations as adopted by the East Norriton Township Board of Supervisors as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Second Class Township Code, notwithstanding anything in the Constitution and bylaws of the Fire Department. The ultimate responsibility of the Fire Department lies with the East Norriton Township Board of Supervisors.
The Township Board of Supervisors may appropriate annually to the Norriton Fire Engine Company such sum or sums as may be in the judgement of the Board of Supervisors considered proper. Any such appropriations may be made upon and subject to such conditions as the Board of Supervisors may deem proper to impose. Appropriations shall be itemized in detail.
The Norriton Fire Engine Company shall submit, after the first reading and prior to the second reading, any proposed constitution and bylaws changes for review by the Township Board of Supervisors.
The Norriton Fire Engine Company may recommend rules and regulations covering the following matters, but such rules and regulations shall not be effective until submitted to and approved by the Board of Supervisors:
A. 
Prevention of fires.
B. 
Storage and use of explosives and flammables.
C. 
Installation and maintenance for fire alarm systems.
D. 
Inspection and regulation of fire escapes and exits from all buildings where a number of persons work or congregate.
E. 
The investigation of the cause, origin or circumstance of fires.
F. 
The establishment of fire drills in educational or other establishments.
G. 
Determining the number and location of fire hydrants.
H. 
The inspection of all fire-fighting equipment.
I. 
The institution of classes in fire fighting.
J. 
Elimination of fire hazards.
K. 
Procedure for dispatching fire companies.
The Board of Supervisors of East Norriton Township does hereby authorize the Norriton Fire Company and all its members to perform the following duties:
A. 
To fight fires.
B. 
To identify and remove fire hazards.
C. 
To inspect buildings to determine whether fire hazards exist.
D. 
To assist in the removal or salvage of all property of any type which has been subject to windstorms, floods, wrecks, fires, or other catastrophes.
E. 
To assist in the maintenance and repair of any buildings or real estate or other property owned by said volunteer Fire Department or property owned by East Norriton Township which is being utilized or operated by said Fire Department.
F. 
To assist with emergency management services (civil defense) programs.
G. 
To attend and participate in fire/training schools, exhibitions or programs, whether held in the Township or elsewhere.
H. 
To assist in the maintenance of fire alarm systems or fire hydrants by reporting malfunctions of such systems to the proper authorities.
I. 
To assist in the rescue of persons or animals.
J. 
To participate in fund-raising activities.
K. 
To participate in parades, either in the Township or in a community within a twenty-mile radius of the Township building or at such other locations as may be approved by the Board of Supervisors.
L. 
To participate in water rescues.
M. 
To assist in fire prevention.
N. 
To respond to out-of-the-jurisdiction calls pursuant to mutual aid agreements.
O. 
To travel to and from any of the above activities, either on foot or in any type of vehicle.
P. 
To review proposed subdivision/land development plans and to recommend in an advisory capacity to the Board of Supervisors, changes or modifications to the plans that will facilitate access for fire equipment.
Q. 
To recommend to the Board of Supervisors amendments that will improve and strengthen Building Code/Fire Code[1] provisions in the interest of fire prevention and public safety.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 72, Art. I, Building Code, and Ch. 95, Fire Prevention, respectively.
As stated in Article XVII of the Company's bylaws:
A. 
Charges may be preferred against any officer or member of the Company for conduct not becoming such officer or member, provided all charges preferred shall be submitted in writing at a stated meeting of the Company with 30 days after the commission of the alleged act or acts.
B. 
Upon receipt of such complaint, the President shall appoint a committee of five active members of the Company: one each from the appointees of the Fire Chief, Chief Engineer, and the Fire Police Captain; one from the Trustees who is not a member of the Board by virtue of his or her office; and one from the group of members who are not appointed or elected to any office.
C. 
The duty of such committee shall be to make a full investigation of the alleged act or acts, giving the complainant and the person complained of full opportunity of presenting their respective sides of this issue.
D. 
Upon receiving all the evidence of both sides, said committee shall retire and thoroughly consider the facts of the case to the best of their ability and reduce the decision of the majority of the committee to writing and submit same to the Company at its next regular meeting for such action to be taken by the Company, as it sees fit.
E. 
If, in the opinion of the committee, the member is found guilty, the committee shall make a recommendation of a penalty. Recommendations not accepted by the Company may be revised by the Company floor.
F. 
Appointed officers, performing acts not in accord with orders of the Fire Chief, Chief Engineer or Fire Police Captain, shall be removed from such office by the officer in charge of the group in which the offense was committed. The individual officer so removed from the office shall have no status until the specified case is considered as outlined above.
The Norriton Fire Company will provide for adequate training for all fire fighters and shall certify to the Township (through the Public Safety Director) annually that all fire fighters responding to an incident will have received the appropriate training for duties undertaken by the fire fighters.
The Board of Supervisors hereby establishes the entire boundaries of East Norriton Township for solicitation of the public for financial support on the part of the Norriton Fire Engine Company.
All personnel who may respond to a potential hazardous materials incident shall be certified at a minimum fire responder awareness level of training or as required by the Norriton Fire Engine Company. The cost of abatement of any hazardous materials incident which poses an immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare shall be paid by the person who negligently or intentionally deposited the hazardous substance (Authorized by Ordinance No. 234, § 118-4, Abatement, of the East Norriton Township Code Book).
[Amended 5-26-2020 by Ord. No. 584]
The Fire Company shall submit annually to the Board of Supervisors (through the Township Fire Chief) an annual report of activities, operations and financial condition for the calendar year preceding.
[Added 11-16-2010 by Ord. No. 531]
A. 
All volunteer members of the Norriton Fire Engine Company (hereafter the "Fire Company"), which serves the inhabitants of the Township of East Norriton, shall be considered employees of the Township, for purposes of receiving compensation pursuant to the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act (Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended), 77 P.S. § 601 (a)(1), for injuries sustained while actively engaged in performing the following duties:
(1) 
Responding to alarms, including all emergency and fire-fighting activities related thereto; auto rescue; water rescue; hazardous materials alarms; and assistance to other municipalities (whether on an emergency scene in another municipality or on standby at the Fire Company when requested by another municipality); assistance to the fire police; and all special alarms as authorized by the Fire Chief or the Officer in Charge. For purposes of this Subsection A(1), "responding to alarms" shall include the volunteer firefighter's travel from and the direct return to a firefighter's home, place of business or other place where he or she shall have been when he or she received the call or alarm.
(2) 
Answering any emergency calls for any purpose or while riding upon the fire apparatus which is owned or used by the Fire Companies.
(3) 
Performing repair, maintenance of or other work on Fire Company equipment, buildings and property at the direction of the Fire Chief or Officer in Charge.
(4) 
Participating in instructional fire drills and other training exercises pertaining to the operation and certification of the Fire Company, including training exercises in conjunction with fire companies in other municipalities, as authorized by the Fire Chief or Officer in Charge.
(5) 
Participating in Fire Prevention Week activities in the Township and with fire companies in other municipalities, when authorized by the Fire Chief or the Officer in Charge.
(6) 
Participating in fund-raising events sponsored by the Fire Company at their Fire houses or on Township property. Participation in fund-raising activities of any kind at all other locations shall not be allowed without the prior written authorization of the Township Board of Supervisors or Manager acting on behalf of the Board.
(7) 
Participating in parades, equipment housings and funerals for fire personnel within the Township of East Norriton, and in other municipalities only with the prior written authorization by the Township Board of Supervisors or the Manager acting for the Board.
(8) 
Participating in any and all additional events or activities for which such participation is expressly preauthorized in writing by the Township Board of Supervisors or the Manager acting for the Board.
B. 
Except where otherwise stated herein, nothing contained in this section shall be considered to limit in any way the activities for which compensation is available to volunteer fire personnel pursuant to the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act (Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended), as set forth in 77 P.S. § 601 (a)(1) and/or (a)(2).