A.
Fire patrols shall be scheduled seven days a week,
holidays included.
C.
Each platoon shall rotate its day patrol on an every
other cycle basis. The first day tour will be 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The second day tour will be 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., conditions permitting.
All patrols will start promptly.
D.
During patrol periods, patrols will be allowed a full
fifteen-minute coffee break at their respective stations. Judgment
will have to be used on the scheduling of the patrol breaks, and not
more than one patrol shall be off the road for break periods at one
time.
E.
Two cars will be placed on the road at one time. This
may be expanded to additional cars as manpower in the Department increases.
F.
One man will be assigned to patrol in a car. This
man will be equipped with his full fighting gear at all times when
on patrol. The carrying of weapons of any type is strictly prohibited.
G.
All fire fighters shall take part in patrol. Periodic
supervision on the road shall be provided by the Deputy Chief of the
platoon on duty.
H.
The uniform of the patrol will be clean work clothes,
uniform cap, uniform overcoat in colder weather and uniform necktie
with long-sleeve shirt. (Tie may be dispensed with when wearing short-sleeve
shirt and no overcoat.) Shoes shall be shined and general appearance
as neat as possible.
I.
Manning of the patrol shall depend upon the total
manpower on duty. At no time shall an engine or truck company be permitted
to ride with less than an officer and two men. The Platoon Commander
will make the determination regarding the number of cars on patrol.
For a minimum of 19 men on duty per platoon, including officers, there
shall be two cars on patrol; for 18 men on duty per platoon, including
officers, there shall be one car on patrol; and for less than 18 men
on duty, there shall be no patrol.
J.
At the discretion of the Chief Officer or senior ranking
officer on duty at the time, patrols may be ordered off the road when
streets become snow-covered and/or icy.
A.
The patrol shall be alert for fires, smoke, false
alarms, Fire Code violations and general safety of the citizens. Indications
of code, ordinance or other violations should be reported to the appropriate
departments.
B.
The patrol shall check the entire area of assignment,
paying particular attention to public buildings, industrial areas
and all lightly traveled areas where a fire could go unnoticed.
C.
The patrol shall assist the public in any way possible;
for example, by calling police to accidents, calling a garage for
breakdowns, calling the rescue squad or ambulance, rendering immediate
first aid and so on.
D.
The patrol shall be alert to any use of hydrants by
street sweepers, contractors, etc. to see that they are properly used.
E.
The patrol may be assigned to surveillance of street
boxes at given periods of time to attempt to apprehend false alarm
perpetrators.
F.
Patrols shall seek out and report motor vehicles that
appear to be abandoned. A report shall be made out on the log sheet
with make, color, year and registration of vehicle and location. Referral
to the Police Department for on-street parking, and the Department
of Building, Housing and Land Use for off-street parking, shall be
accomplished by staff personnel on the following working day.
G.
The patrol shall check public assemblies and perform
other special details as directed; however, the patrol shall not leave
its assigned area for this purpose.
H.
The patrol shall not park or stand, except as in the
above subsections or when making investigations or fire fighting.
I.
Sleeping by a member on patrol is strictly forbidden.
J.
The patrol is not a police function. Rather, it is
a public safety function that is merely an expansion of the normal
duties of fire fighters, which is that of protecting life and property.
K.
Should the patrol discover Fire Code violations, including
parking violations in fire zones and by fire hydrants, they shall
take corrective action as necessary, which may include issuing of
summonses.
L.
Should the patrol require the assistance of the police,
they shall request same via radio, giving a clear explanation of the
need.
N.
In every situation when the patrol members are called
upon to assist in a particular function, it is understood that the
directions given are in the form of a request, not an order, and should
be considered as such regardless of the circumstances. The most important
factor for the patrol to be constantly aware of is the objective to
help whomever, whenever and wherever needed.
A.
The patrols will operate in the area either north
or south of the Susquehanna Railroad, roughly dividing the city in
half. When using two vehicles, they will respond to all first-alarm
assignments with Engine No. 4 and Truck No. 2 in their area. if only
one patrol is on the road, it will be assigned a district by the tour
commander and will respond to all first-alarm assignments with Engine
No. 4 and Truck No. 2.
B.
All patrols shall give their location immediately
when acknowledging each call, i.e., "Fire Headquarters to Car No.
....," and the car would answer, "Car No. ...., Main and Mercer."
C.
Headquarters shall be given the location and reason
whenever the patrol leaves the car for any purpose (e.g., "I am checking
smoke in the area of 210 Main Street. Stand by.").
D.
Fire Headquarters shall notify the police if the member
leaves the car, such as above.
E.
The portable radio shall be carried by patrol members
when out of the car making any check or investigation.
F.
The patrol shall report any fire it discovers, even
though the patrol extinguishes the fire itself (trash, leaves, grass,
etc.).
G.
Alarm reports shall be filed by the patrol. Fires
discovered and extinguished by the patrol shall not require alarm
dispatch by headquarters. However, the patrol shall file the required
alarm report. Neatly handwritten reports will be acceptable.
H.
Fires of any nature in buildings shall require the
dispatch of at least one engine company, regardless of the action
taken by the patrol unit.
I.
Smoke in a building, cause undetermined, shall be
handled as heretofore, and a full first-alarm response shall be dispatched.
J.
In the event of more than one alarm at one time, the
patrol may be dispatched from one fire scene to another on orders
of the officer in command at the fire ground.
K.
There shall be no vehicular pursuit of any vehicle
leaving the scene of a crime or accident.
L.
The patrol will report time checks at half-hour intervals
to the headquarters dispatcher, giving car number, location and badge
number.
M.
The patrol shall function in a courteous manner at
all times. Verbal abuse or discourteous treatment of any citizen by
members of the patrol will not be tolerated.
N.
Whenever the member on patrol is out of the vehicle
and will be away from the vehicle for any reason regardless of the
time sequence, the vehicle is to be securely locked. This regulation
includes any time the vehicles are parked on Fire Department property.
A.
Immediately after receipt of a telephone alarm or
a box alarm, headquarters shall notify the patrol of the alarm by
radio and announce "Signal 58, house fire at......." (and give the
location), or, in the case of a box alarm, "Signal 58, box alarm"
(and give the location). Patrols shall maintain a constant monitor
on radio and be alert to all transmissions. When responding to an
alarm of fire, patrols will give the right-of-way at all times to
responding fire apparatus.
B.
When the patrol arrives at the fire scene before the
apparatus, it shall:
(1)
Park (and lock) the patrol vehicle on the opposite
side of the street from the fire location with warning lights on.
(2)
Do whatever it can to assist the occupants if assistance
is required, and attempt to confine the fire by closing doors, making
initial attack with extinguisher, garden hose, etc.
(3)
Advise the responding companies of the need to lay-in
and the best hydrant location if time allows.
(4)
Attempt to hold or extinguish fire if possible.
C.
If the fire is of a nature that the patrol vehicle
can extinguish it, the patrol may radio headquarters to advise the
apparatus to slow down. The responding apparatus shall then proceed
to the scene on a nonemergency basis. Information for the report would
be obtained by the patrol member.
The Platoon Commander shall be responsible for
patrol assignments on a rotating basis. Headquarters Captains shall
keep accurate records of personnel and shall maintain supervision
over the patrol. In addition, the Captains shall be responsible for
the logging of communications in the house watch book and for checking
and forwarding all reports submitted by the patrol.
A.
Before beginning the patrol function, and again on
completion, the personnel assigned will check the vehicle to ensure
that all equipment is in its proper order and place.
B.
Initially, the below-listed will be carried in the
vehicle, with additional items added as required:
|
1 Scot Pak
| |
|
1 15-pound CO2 extinguisher
| |
|
1 2 1/2-gallon water pressure extinguisher
with anti-freeze
| |
|
1 Ziamatic bar (Halligan type)
| |
|
1 24-unit first aid kit
| |
|
1 hand light (Carpenter type)
| |
|
1 blanket
| |
|
1 fire broom
| |
|
1 4-foot pike pole
| |
|
1 pike-headed ax
| |
|
1 100-foot length 1/2-inch nylon rope
| |
|
1 clipboard
| |
|
2 copies fire reports
| |
|
2 copies incident reports
| |
|
Portable hand radio sets temporarily until mobile
| |
|
radios installed
|
C.
It shall be the responsibility of each patrol member
to clean the interior of the vehicle. Such cleaning shall include
the emptying of ash trays, the brushing out of front floor mats and
the dusting down of the dash and all surfaces where dust has gathered.
A.
The patrol log shall be completed by each patrol member
in such detail as described below. A separate log sheet (or sheets)
shall be made out for each time period or patrol. Should a patrol
be on for only one hour, a separate sheet will be completed.
(1)
Before assuming patrol, the members assigned shall
complete the initial part of the form and check the patrol equipment.
(2)
Patrol members shall enter on the patrol log all activities,
for example, requests to move vehicles improperly parked, all information
referred to police, checks of special buildings or areas, providing
information to citizens and any other item or action the patrol carries
out.
(3)
It is imperative that log sheets show all of the activity
of the patrol so that a proper evaluation may be made of the effectiveness
of the patrol and its value to the citizens of Hackensack.
(4)
Personnel shall make the entries brief, yet clear,
and should consider the fact that this information must be tabulated
by clerical personnel who have no firsthand knowledge of the patrol's
activity.
(5)
In order to assist in the recording of all patrol
activity, the following items shall be listed on log sheets when recording
alarms of fire:
B.
The patrol shall carry two alarm reports. If additional
report forms are needed, they may be obtained at headquarters.
[Added 6-1-1992 by Ord. No. 6-92]
A.
The Fire Department may provide emergency ambulance
service for members of the general public, which shall be subject
to the priority of demands of Fire Department personnel. There will
be no service outside a fifteen-mile radius unless emergency in nature
and subject to the priority of demands of the Fire Department personnel.
B.
Fees.
[Amended 11-20-1995 by Ord. No. 25-95; 3-15-1999 by Ord. No.
7-99]
(1)
A fee of $350 shall be charged to all persons receiving
emergency ambulance service within and outside the City's limits.
In addition thereto, there shall be a charge of $5 per mile for any
out-of-City service.
[Amended 12-20-2004 by Ord. No. 13-2004]
(2)
A fee of $20 shall be charged to all persons to whom
basic defibrillator procedures are administered in the course of such
emergency ambulance services.
(3)
A fee of $35 shall be charged to all persons to whom
oxygen is administered in the course of such emergency ambulance services.
C.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the payment of the
fee by any person receiving such emergency ambulance services from
the Fire Department shall be waived, provided that such person certifies
that:
(1)
He or she had no medical insurance coverage in effect
on the date of such emergency ambulance services; and
(2)
His or her total annual household income, as hereinafter
defined, for the last full calendar year did not exceed an amount
three times the Bergen County per capita personal income level as
last reported by the Department of Labor and Industry. For the purposes
of this subsection, "total annual household income" shall be defined
as the total income from all sources during the last full calendar
year for all members of the household who reside with the person receiving
the emergency ambulance services, whether or not such income is subject
to taxation by any taxing authority.
