[Adopted by Ord. No. 96-30 (Sec. 19-6 of the 2002 Revised General Ordinances)]
The Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official or duly authorized
representatives, as may be in charge at the scene of a fire or other
emergency involving the protection of life and/or property, are empowered
to direct such operations as may be necessary to extinguish or control
any suspected or reported fires, gas leaks, or other hazardous conditions
or situations or to take any other action necessary in the reasonable
performance of their duty. The Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code
Official may prohibit any person, vehicle or object from approaching
the scene and may remove or cause to be removed from the scene any
person, vehicle or object which may impede or interfere with the operations
of the Fire Department. The Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official
may remove or cause to be removed any person, vehicle or object from
hazardous areas. All persons ordered to leave a hazardous area shall
do so immediately and shall not reenter the area until authorized
to do so by the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official.
It shall be unlawful to interfere with, attempt to interfere
with, conspire to interfere with, obstruct or restrict the mobility
of, or block the path of travel of any Fire Department emergency vehicle
in any way or to interfere with, attempt to interfere with, conspire
to interfere with, obstruct or hamper any Fire Department operation.
A person shall not willfully fail or refuse to comply with any
lawful order or direction of the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code
Official or interfere with the compliance attempts of another individual.
A vehicle shall not be driven or propelled over any unprotected
fire hose of the Fire Department when laid down on any street, alleyway,
private drive or any other vehicular roadway without the consent of
the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official in command of the
operation.
Authorized emergency vehicles shall be restricted to those which
are defined and authorized under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
Upon the approach of any authorized emergency vehicle, giving
audible and visual signal, the operator of any other vehicle shall
immediately drive the same to a position as near as possible and parallel
to the right-hand edge or curb of the street or roadway, clear of
any intersection, and shall stop and remain in such position until
the authorized emergency vehicle or vehicles shall have passed, unless
otherwise directed by the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official
or a police officer.
It shall be unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, other
than one on official business, to follow closer than 300 feet to any
fire apparatus traveling in response to a fire alarm or to drive any
vehicle within the block or immediate area where fire apparatus has
stopped in answer to a fire alarm.
A person shall not, without proper authorization from the Fire
Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official in charge of the Fire Department
emergency equipment, cling to, attach himself to, climb upon or into,
board or swing upon any Fire Department emergency vehicle, whether
the same is in motion or at rest, or sound the siren, horn, bell or
other sound-producing device thereon or manipulate or tamper with,
or attempt to manipulate or tamper with, any levers, valves, switches,
starting devices, brakes, pumps, or any equipment or protective clothing
on, or a part of, any Fire Department emergency vehicle.
It shall be unlawful for any person to damage or deface or attempt
or conspire to damage or deface any Fire Department emergency vehicle
at any time or to injure or attempt to injure or conspire to injure
Fire Department personnel while performing Departmental duties.
A.
The driver of any emergency vehicle, as defined in § 161-11, shall not sound the siren thereon or have the front red lights on or disobey any existing traffic regulation, except when the vehicle is responding to any emergency call or when responding to, but not upon returning from, a fire. Tactical strategies, such as, but not restricted to, "move-ups," do not constitute any emergency call. The driver of an emergency vehicle may:
(1)
Park or stand irrespective to the provisions of existing traffic
regulations.
(2)
Proceed past a red or stop signal or other sign, but only after slowing
down as may be necessary for safe operation.
(3)
Exceed the prima facie speed limit so long as the action does not
endanger life or property.
(4)
Disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning
in specified directions.
B.
The exemptions herein granted to any emergency vehicle shall apply
only when the driver of any such vehicle, while in motion, sounds
an audible signal by bell, siren, or exhaust whistle, as may be reasonably
necessary, and when the vehicle is equipped with at least one lighted
lamp displaying a red light visible under normal atmospheric conditions
from a distance of 500 feet to the front of such vehicle.
A.
It shall be unlawful to obscure from view, damage, deface, obstruct
or restrict the access to any fire hydrant or any Fire Department
connection for the pressurization of fire-suppression systems, including
fire hydrants and Fire Department connections that are located on
public or private streets and access lanes or on private property.
B.
If, upon the expiration of the time mentioned in a notice of violation,
obstructions or encroachments are not removed, the Fire Official/Fire
Marshal/Fire Code Official shall proceed to remove the same. Cost
incurred in the performance of necessary work shall be paid from the
municipal treasury on certificate of the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire
Code Official and with the approval of the chief administrative official;
and the legal authority of the municipality shall institute appropriate
action for the recovery of such costs.
A person shall not use or operate any fire hydrant intended
for use of the Fire Department for fire-suppression purposes unless
such person first secures a permit for such use from the Fire Official/Fire
Marshal/Fire Code Official and the water company having jurisdiction.
This section shall not apply to the use of such hydrants by a person
employed by, and authorized to make such use by, the water company
having jurisdiction.
The Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official shall recommend
to the chief administrative official of the municipality the location
or relocation of new or existing fire hydrants and the placement or
replacement of inadequate water mains located upon public property
and deemed necessary to provide an adequate fire flow and distribution
pattern. A fire hydrant shall not be placed into or removed from service
until approved by the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official.
All new and existing shipyards, oil storage plants, lumberyards,
amusement or exhibition parks, and educational or institutional complexes
and similar occupancies and uses involving high fire or life hazards
and which are located more than 75 feet from a public street or which
require quantities of water beyond the capabilities of the public
water distribution system shall be provided with properly placed fire
hydrants. Such fire hydrants shall be capable of supplying fire flows
as required by the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official and
shall be connected to a water system in accordance with accepted engineering
practices. The Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official shall
designate and approve the number and location of fire hydrants. The
Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official may require the installation
of sufficient fire hose and equipment housed in accordance with the
approved rules and may require the establishment of a trained fire
brigade when the hazard involved requires such measures. Private hydrants
shall not be placed into or removed from service until approved by
the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official.
A person shall not obstruct, remove, tamper with or otherwise
disturb any fire hydrant or fire appliance required to be installed
or maintained under the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code except
for the purpose of extinguishing fire, training or testing purposes,
recharging or making necessary repairs or when permitted by the Fire
Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official. Whenever a fire appliance
is removed as herein permitted, it shall be replaced or reinstalled
as soon as the purpose for which it was removed has been accomplished.
Defective and nonapproved fire appliances or equipment shall be replaced
or repaired as directed by the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code
Official.[1]
A.
No person shall maintain, within eight feet of a fire hydrant, flowers,
hedges or trees. All persons (absent of physical inability to perform
the duty) owning public or private property contiguous to a fire hydrant
shall remove all snow within an area of three feet in all directions
of such hydrant within the twenty-four-hour period that snow ceases
to fall.
B.
The Clark Division of Fire Prevention and Protection shall be the
enforcing agency of this section.
A.
Residential development:
|
Residential Development
|
Fire Flow Requirement (at 20 psi residual)
(gpm)
| |
|---|---|---|
|
One- and two-family dwellings (> 100 feet between houses)
|
750
| |
|
One- and two-family dwellings (31 to 100 feet between houses)
|
750
| |
|
One- and two-family dwellings (11 to 31 feet between houses)
|
1,000
| |
|
One- and two-family dwellings (< 11 feet between houses)
|
1,500
| |
|
Multifamily house (maximum 4 dwelling units, including townhouses)
|
1,500
| |
|
Multifamily house (> 4 dwelling units, including townhouses)
|
1,500
| |
|
Apartment building (including condominiums)
|
1,500
|
B.
Nonresidential development. The following are provided as general
categories, and each development will be required to get a letter
from the Municipal Fire Subcode Official as to its specific requirement:
|
Nonresidential Development
|
Fire Flow Requirement (at 20 psi residual)
(gpm)
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Light industrial/commercial
|
1,750
| |
|
Medium industrial/commercial
|
2,500
| |
|
Heavy industrial/commercial
|
3,000
|
A person shall not sell, trade, loan or give away any form,
type or kind of fire extinguisher which is not approved by the Fire
Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official or which is not in proper
working order or the contents of which do not meet the requirements
of the Fire Official/Fire Marshal/Fire Code Official. The requirements
of this section shall not apply to the sale, trade or exchange of
obsolete or damaged equipment for junk when the units are permanently
disfigured or marked with a permanent sign identifying the unit as
junk.
A person or persons shall not erect, construct, place, or maintain
any bumps, fences, gates, chains, bars, pipes, wood or metal horses
or any other type of obstruction in or on any street within the boundaries
of the municipality. The word "street," as used in this section, shall
mean any roadway accessible to the public for vehicular traffic, including,
but not limited to, private streets or access lanes, as well as all
public streets and highways within the boundaries of the municipality.
