[Added 11-2-2016 by Ord.
No. Z-449]
A.
"Fire watch" is defined as a temporary measure ordered by any statutorily
authorized member of the City of Hoboken's Division of Fire, which
is intended to ensure continuous and systematic surveillance of and
response to a property within the City of Hoboken or a portion thereof,
or a building or portion thereof, by one or more statutorily qualified
individuals, for the purpose of identifying and controlling fire and
other life/property hazards, detecting early signs of an unwanted
fire, raising an alarm of fire to the occupants, notifying the Hoboken
Fire Department and engaging in firefighting or other emergency response.
B.
A routine fire watch may be ordered by the Fire Official with the
preapproval of the City Administrator or his/her designee. An emergency
fire watch may be ordered by the Fire Official, or in his/her absence,
the ranking Fire Department officer present may act on his/her own.
Whenever a determination is made by the Fire Marshal that an increased
potential of fire or life or property loss is present at any building,
there may be ordered a protective fire watch to be performed by trained
personnel from the ranks of the Division of Fire Prevention or Fire
Department. The requirement for such watch shall consider the status
of occupancy and use, fire protection equipment, structural damage
from fire or accident, and the potential for fire from all sources.
C.
A fire watch may include firefighting, rescue, recovery and other
emergency responses; the maintaining of posted fire lanes, means of
egress, and posted occupancy loads; enforcement of no smoking in posted
areas; area and building surveillance; checking for proper permits;
inspecting for proper safety precautions of cooking equipment; and
such other functions as required by the Fire Official or his/her assigned
designee.
D.
Fire watches shall be performed by active members of the Fire Department.
Any qualified individuals used for the purposes of a fire watch shall
report directly to the Fire Official or his/her assigned designee,
who will, in turn, report to and be subject to the direction of the
City of Hoboken Business Administrator.
E.
All payments to the Fire Department for a fire watch shall be paid
into a designated trust fund. No volunteer firefighter shall be paid
for any fire watch under this article.
F.
Upon order of a fire watch at any property, the property owner indemnifies
and holds the City of Hoboken harmless (including for negligence)
for any fire watches not conducted by the City of Hoboken when ordered
by the City of Hoboken. For fire watches ordered by the City, the
Fire Department shall secure the same indemnification from the building
owner in a form provided by the City.
G.
Any building otherwise subject to this article can opt out of a fire
watch by submitting proof to the Fire Department that the building
is covered by a private security watch or other comparable substitute
for a fire watch.
H.
The cost for this watch shall be borne by the owner of the involved
property or the persons responsible for creating such hazard and shall
be paid within 30 days of received written proof of cost and personnel
hours. Uncollected fees are subject to the jurisdiction of the City
Municipal Court and may be pursued through the Penalty Collection
Act.
A.
The Chief of Fire shall designate two members of the Department to
act in the capacity of outside employment liaison officers. These
officers shall be responsible for the assignment of firefighter personnel
to outside employment fire watch assignments.
B.
Assignments of firefighter personnel for fire watches will be made
at the discretion of the Chief of Fire and/or Fire Marshal.
A.
Any private person or entity desiring to retain the services of firefighters
of the City of Hoboken for outside employment activities (i.e., fire
watches) shall be required to enter into a contract with the City
of Hoboken. The contract shall include but not be limited to the nature
of duties, the date and hours of service, and the rate of payment
for the services the firefighters provide. The contract shall provide
for a deposit in advance into the trust fund designated for this purpose
by the contractor for the estimated amount of the services to be performed,
subject to adjustment pursuant to the final invoice.
B.
At the time a private person or entity applies for a permit from
the City of Hoboken subcode officials for street construction, excavation,
paving, etc., the permit shall state that as a condition for its issuance
the private person or entity shall contact the Fire Marshal, who shall
determine whether or not it will be necessary to assign firefighters
to that particular site in order to ensure public safety and well-being.
(1)
The criterion which the Fire Marshal shall use in order to base his/her
determination as to whether or not a fire presence at a particular
work site is required shall be the Uniform Fire Code of the State
of New Jersey.
(2)
In the event that the determination is made that a firefighter should
be assigned, the firefighters designated as liaisons by the Chief
of Fire will be contacted by the Fire Marshal so that a firefighter
may be assigned from the rotation. All private persons or entities
shall be required to make all payment for outside assignments payable
to the Division of Revenue and Finance, City of Hoboken. The moneys
shall be collected from the private persons or entities by the Finance
Department and earmarked for payment of the firefighters performing
the outside employment.
C.
All members of the Fire Department shall be paid for services performed
on one or two standard rates. The firefighters performing this service
shall be paid on a regular pay date, after the receipt of funds from
the contracting entity and upon the submission of appropriate documentation
certifying the performance of duty by the firefighter(s) concerned.
A.
The rate of payment for a fire watch shall be $50 per hour, up to eight hours of continuous work. Any outside assignment that exceeds eight continuous hours of work shall be subject to overtime payment in accordance with § 59A-46 below.
B.
This salary rate may be adjusted from time to time by the Director
of Administration. The City of Hoboken shall not be required to allow
its equipment to be used on any off-duty assignment.
Any outside assignment which exceeds eight continuous hours
shall be charged at an overtime rate of time and 1/2, which shall
be payable by the private entity seeking said services.
All outside assignments which have been contracted prior to
the Fire Department's outside personnel employment order, implemented
under the auspices of this article, shall merge with the procedural
requirements of said departmental order. The sole exception shall
be that the rate of pay agreed to relative to those outside assignments
shall not be disturbed. A separate list shall be afforded the Department
of Administration indicating the payment rate of those specific assignments.
However, once that particular assignment terminates, the resurrection
of that assignment shall then require the implementation of the payment
schedule.
A.
The Chief of Fire or his/her designee shall have the authority to
order any firefighter engaged in an outside assignment within the
City of Hoboken to respond to an emergency situation occurring within
the City of Hoboken. The Chief of Fire or his/her designee shall also
have the right to offer any outside assignment terminated whenever
said assignment creates an unacceptable risk to the health, safety
and welfare of the firefighter and/or the citizens of the City of
Hoboken.
B.
In the event that a firefighter is assigned to an emergency situation,
the Fire Chief or his/her designee shall make note of said emergency
situation, as well as the time said firefighter was removed from said
outside assignment. In any situation where a firefighter is performing
an outside assignment and is called to an emergency situation, said
private person or entity shall not be responsible for the payment
of the firefighter's hourly rate until such time as said firefighter
returns to the outside employment.
Due to the increase in the workload of the Department of Revenue
and Finance, which includes but is not limited to additional payment
and processing of checks by automatic data processing and the additional
time expended in computing appropriate follow-up procedures to ensure
payment is made to the City by third parties, an administrative fee
of $1 per hour per firefighter shall be charged. This figure shall
be reviewed by the Director of the Department of Administration within
60 days of implementation to determine if any modification is necessary.
