[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Harrisburg
by Ord. No. 131-1950/1951. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Ord. No. 72-1967]
The Assistant Chiefs in the Bureau of Fire shall aid and assist
the Chief of the Bureau of Fire in the supervision, direction and
control of all firefighters within the Bureau of Fire and any volunteer
firefighters acting in concert with them. It shall be the duty of
the Assistant Chief having the greatest seniority within that office
to act as Chief of the Bureau of Fire during the absence or inability
of the Chief to act, and during such absence or inability the Assistant
Chief shall exercise all the rights and powers of the Chief.
[Ord. No. 30-1971]
A.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Act of June 23, 1931, P.L. 932
as amended, 53 P.S. § 37104, there is hereby created and
established the position of Fire Marshal in and for the City of Harrisburg.
B.
The Fire Marshal shall be appointed biannually by the Mayor, with
the approval and consent of Council.
C.
The Fire Marshal need not be a member of the uniformed fire-fighting
service of the City, but the office of Fire Marshal is hereby assigned,
for administrative purposes, to the Department of Public Safety and
the Bureau of Fire. The Fire Marshal shall be responsible to and perform
such duties as may be assigned by the Mayor and the Fire Chief.
In the interest of public safety and security from fire, the
Fire Prevention Inspector, who shall be so designated by the Director
of the Department of Public Safety, shall have full power and authority:
A.
To enforce by order all laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations
relating to the manufacture, sale, storage, or transportation of flammable
or explosive substances; and
B.
At any and all reasonable times, to enter upon and into any building
or premises within the City for the purposes of examining and inspecting
the same to ascertain the condition thereof with regard to the presence,
arrangement or location of all appliances, materials, substances,
goods, wares, or merchandise therein to determine whether or not a
fire hazard exists.
The service of the orders of the Fire Prevention Inspector shall
be made upon the owner, lessee or occupant, or agent of any of them,
of the building or premises affected. Such service shall be accomplished
either by delivering to and leaving with such individual or any person
in charge of the building or premises a copy of the order or, in case
such person is not found, by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous
place on the premises. The owner, lessee, occupant, person in charge,
or agent of any of any such building or premises in violation must
comply with such order or orders within 24 hours after service, unless
an appeal is taken as provided hereinafter.
Any person aggrieved by such order may, within 24 hours after
the order has been served, appeal to the Fire Chief or appointed designee.
The Fire Chief or appointed designee shall thereupon issue such order
as may be deemed right and reasonable and fix the time within which
the same shall be complied with.
In addition to any other remedy, the Fire Prevention Inspector,
together with workmen, may enter at any time any building or premises
in the City for the purpose of eliminating a fire hazard. The costs
and expenses of the elimination of fire hazards shall be recoverable
from the owner or owners of such buildings or premises from which
the hazards shall be eliminated, or from any person or persons causing
the fire hazard, in the same manner as fines and penalties for violation
of an ordinance.
Where the Fire Prevention Inspector finds the existence of a
fire hazard detrimental to life or health which has not been corrected
within 24 hours after written notice, the Fire Prevention Inspector
shall report such condition to the Board of Health of the City of
Harrisburg, which shall take such action as deemed necessary. This
procedure shall be additional to any other remedy granted in this
chapter.
[Ord. No. 130-1968]
A.
The Fire Chief, having the direction and control of the Bureau, may
appoint a Master Mechanic and one or more Assistants. The Master Mechanic
shall be charged with the responsibility for maintenance and repair
of all motor or power equipment used by the Bureau of Fire. Master
Mechanic assistants shall assist the Master Mechanic in his or her
duties.
B.
Appointments to the offices of Master Mechanic and Assistant Master
Mechanic shall be made by the Mayor from a list of three eligible
applicants certified by the Civil Service Commission.
No member of a volunteer fire company who is aged or infirm
or who may be physically unfit to undertake the exacting and exhausting
work of fighting fires and the risks and dangers incident thereto
shall accompany the apparatus of the Bureau to a fire or, if present,
shall assist in any such work.
