[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Abington 6-11-1953 by Ord. No. 726. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The Fire Department of the Township of Abington
shall consist of the Abington Fire Company No. 1, McKinley Fire Company
No. 1, Weldon Fire Company No. 1, Edge Hill Fire Company No. 1 and
Roslyn Fire Company No. 1 and such additional fire companies hereinafter
organized as the Board of Commissioners may from time to time by ordinance
or resolution receive into the Department; provided, however, that
no company shall be admitted into the Department unless its firehouse
shall be located at least 11/2 miles distance from the present location
of any of the above-mentioned five companies now comprising the Department,
and provided further that no company shall be admitted into the Department
until it has property, real and personal, to the value of $25,000
over and above all encumbrances thereon and an active fire-fighting
force of not less than 15 members and has had a corporate existence
of not less than five years. Each active member of the Department
shall be furnished by the Board of Township Commissioners with a badge
as a mark of recognition of such person's duties to the exclusion
of all others.
Each fire company comprising the Fire Department
of the Township of Abington shall be subject to the jurisdiction and
control of the Board of Township Commissioners and shall at all times
conform to any and all rules and regulations adopted by said Board,
anything in the constitution and bylaws of any company to the contrary
notwithstanding. The Fire Board may, however, subject to the approval
of the Board of Township Commissioners, adopt, and from time to time
amend, the rules and regulations governing the Department.
The Fire Board shall maintain such minimum standards
of operation of the Fire Department as the Township Commissioners
may prescribe and shall develop plans and make suggestions for improving
such standards and shall report such plans and suggestions to the
Board of Township Commissioners.
[Amended 3-11-1976 by Ord. No. 1420; 3-14-1996 by Ord. No.
1758]
The officers of the Fire Department of the Township
of Abington shall be known as the "Fire Board" and shall consist of
the Chairperson of the Township of Abington Department of Public Safety
or his designee as presiding officer and the Fire Chief, designated
herein as District Chief, of each company forming the Fire Department.
Each fire company shall elect or appoint its District Chief for the
period of at least one year. All district officers shall be active
members, of at least 25 years of age, resident within the Township
of Abington. The District Chiefs shall give their services gratuitously
and shall take and subscribe to the oath required of township officials.
The meetings of the Fire Board shall be held quarterly.
The Fire Chief shall investigate all fires and
keep a full record thereof in a book to be provided for the purpose,
including the date of each fire, the location thereof, owner or tenant,
time of the alarm and time of the arrival of the company at the fire,
if delayed, description of property burned and origin of fire loss,
value and insurance. Reports shall be filed monthly with the Fire
Marshal.
The Board of Township Commissioners shall divide
the township into fire districts and designate the territory or district
within the township wherein each company of the Department shall operate,
and no company of this Department shall operate out of its own territory
or district unless it is called upon to do so by the District Chief
of the district in which the fire is actually occurring. The District
Chief shall have full charge at all fires in such Chief's district,
cooperating with the Fire Marshal by calling the Fire Marshal on fires
of unknown origin; provided, however, that where it is necessary to
call for assistance, the District Chief in whose district the fire
occurs shall have the right to call on any or all of the other companies
of the Department, and any company so called shall respond with all
due diligence and be subject to the supervision of the District Chief
in whose district the fire occurs.
District Fire Chiefs shall at all fires have
all the powers of a township police officer and when necessary may
rope off streets and exclude the public from the immediate vicinity
of the fire or place of danger.
The fire companies comprising said Fire Department
of the Township of Abington shall be subject to the control and jurisdiction
of the Board of Township Commissioners; the Township Fire Board may
visit the firehouse of each company of the Department at least once
in every three months, inspect the apparatus and equipment, and shall
whenever necessary recommend in writing to the respective company
any improvement, reform or change deemed advantageous to the Department.
Should the company so notified fail to comply therewith within 30
days from the date of the service of said recommendations, the Fire
Board shall certify the same to the Department of Public Safety of
the Board of Commissioners for appropriate action.
In case any company or officers in the Department shall be charged with the violation of any of the rules and duties herein imposed by the Chairperson of the Township of Abington Department of Public Safety, the Chairperson shall have the power to fine said company, if said charge is sustained by the Fire Board of the Fire Department provided in § 12-4, at least $10 and not more than $50, and the Chairperson shall report to the Department of Public Safety the cause and circumstances under which the fine is imposed, but the company fined may appeal through its Chief to the Board of Township Commissioners, who shall give a fair and impartial hearing. In the event of said fine's being sustained as aforesaid, the amount thereof shall be deducted from the annual appropriation for said company.
Each company must submit within 30 days after
its admission to the Department a certified copy of its constitution
and bylaws for approval by the Fire Board.
Each company in the Department shall submit
annually to the Board of Township Commissioners a report of its financial
condition for the calendar year preceding, such report to be submitted
to the Board of Township Commissioners not later than the 15th day
of January of each year.
A.
It shall and may be lawful for the Board of Township
Commissioners of the Township of Abington to appropriate annually
to the Fire Department of the Township of Abington such sum as in
the opinion of said Board of Commissioners may be right and proper,
such appropriations to be divided equally between the various companies
in the Department and to be paid annually by order regularly granted
by said Board upon receipt of a certificate from the Chairperson of
the Township of Abington Department of Public Safety that there are
no deductions on account of fines for the year preceding such annual
payment and that each company faithfully complied with all rules and
duties herein imposed.
B.
Should the Chairperson of the Township of Abington
Department of Public Safety refuse this certificate for any reason
to any company in the Department, the Board of Township Commissioners
shall investigate and examine into the reason for such refusal, and
if said refusal is sustained by the said Board, may withhold from
said company the whole of its annual appropriation or so much thereof
as the Board of Township Commissioners may deem proper.
[Added 10-14-2010 by Ord. No. 1999]
All members of the Abington Township Fire Department consisting
of the combined membership rolls of the Abington Fire Company #1,
the McKinley Fire Company #1, the Weldon Fire Company 41, the Edge
Hill Fire Company #1 and the Roslyn Fire Company #1 (hereinafter collectively
the "Fire Department") which serves the citizens of Abington Township,
shall be considered as employees of the Township of Abington for the
purposes of receiving compensation pursuant to the Pennsylvania Workers'
Compensation Act (Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended), 77 P.S.
§ 1301(a)(l), for injuries or illness sustained while actively
engaged in performing the following duties:
A.
Responding to alarms, including all emergency and fire-fighting activities related thereto, for any of the following: fires, any type of rescue, any type of hazardous materials incident, any standby, any request for fire police, any assistance to police or other Township departments, any of the aforementioned activities in any other municipality when either requested or as a result of automatic mutual aid, and any special alarms as authorized by the Fire Chief or Officer in Charge. For the purposes of this Subsection A, "responding to alarms" shall include the volunteer fire fighters' travel from the point of dispatch or activation of a paging device to the direct return to a fire fighter's home, place of business or workplace or other place where he or she shall have been when he or she received the call or alarm; any activity regardless of location that was dispatched by the Montgomery County Emergency Dispatch Services; and answering any emergency calls for any purpose or while riding upon the fire apparatus which is owned or used by the Fire Department.
B.
Performing any repair, maintenance of or other work on Fire Department
equipment, buildings and property, including training sites, at the
direction of the Fire Department, Fire Chief or Officer in Charge.
C.
Participating in any type of Fire Department instruction, training
exercises, fire drills pertaining to the operation and or certification
of the Fire Department, Fire Company or any individual member, including
training exercises in conjunction with other fire departments or fire
companies in other municipalities as authorized by the Fire Department,
the Fire Chief or the Officer in Charge.
D.
Participating in any type of fire prevention or public education
activity, fire department support of scouts, explorers or school student
activities when authorized by the Fire Department, Fire Chief or Officer
in Charge.
E.
Participation in fund-raising events sponsored by the Fire Department,
Fire Company at the fire house or on Township property. Participation
in fund-raising activities of any kind at all other locations shall
not be allowed without prior written authorization of the Board of
Commissioners or the Township Manager acting on behalf of the Board
of Commissioners, and in the absence of such written permission, the
provisions of this section shall not apply.
F.
Participating in parades, equipment housings, funerals and/or memorial
services as approved by the Fire Department, Fire Chief or Officer
in Charge.
G.
Participating in events approved by the Fire Department, Fire Company
Chief or Officer in Charge such as community celebrations, community
events, recruitment events, block parties, stand-by at authorized
fireworks demonstrations, car shows, and community patriotic displays.
H.
Participation in any Fire- or Emergency Services-related convention,
seminar or conference approved by the Fire Department, Fire Company
Chief or Officer in Charge, regardless of location.
I.
For the purpose of this section, any type of sporting event, either
pick-up or league participation, including but not limited to baseball,
softball, football, basketball, soccer, hockey, lacrosse, paint ball,
target shooting, hunting, boating or swimming not related to water
rescue training is not covered by workers' compensation unless prior
authorization is received by the Board of Commissioners or the Abington
Township Manager acting in behalf of the Abington Board of Commissioners.
If the Fire Department chooses to sponsor any type of sporting event,
any injury that may occur will not be covered by Abington Township's
workers' compensation insurance. The Fire Department may elect
to provide insurance for its members for such events.
J.
Participation in any and all additional events or activities not
previously specifically mentioned must be preauthorized in writing
by the Board of Commissioners of Abington Township or the Abington
Township Manager acting for the Board of Commissioner in order for
the provisions of this section to be applicable.
