[Adopted 4-18-1977 by Ord. No. 458 (Ch. 113, Art. II, of
the 1981 Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes person, persons, firm or corporation.
A.
A Bureau of Fire Prevention in the Fire Department of the Borough
of Lindenwold is hereby established, which shall be operated under
the supervision of the Fire Marshal/Fire Official as per N.J.A.C.
5:71-3.2.
[Amended 11-5-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-01]
B.
The Fire Marshal shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice
and consent of Borough Council. The Fire Marshal shall receive as
salary the sum provided for in the Salary Ordinance.
[Amended 10-19-1981 by Ord. No. 587]
C.
The Fire Marshal may detail such other members of the Fire Department
as inspectors as shall from time to time be necessary.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Marshal to enforce all laws and
ordinances covering the following:
(1)
The prevention of fires.
(2)
The storage and use of explosives and flammables.
(3)
The installation and maintenance of fire alarm systems and fire extinguishing
equipment.
(4)
The maintenance and regulation of fire escapes.
(5)
The elimination of hazards in buildings and structures, including
those under construction.
(6)
The means and adequacy of exit in case of fire from factories, schools,
lodging houses, churches and all other places in which numbers of
persons work, live or congregate from time to time for any purpose.
(7)
The investigation of the cause, origin and circumstances of fires.
B.
He shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as
are set forth in other sections of this article and other ordinances
and as may be conferred and imposed from time to time by law.
The Fire Marshal and/or his appointed inspectors may, at all
reasonable hours, enter any building or premises within his jurisdiction
for the purpose of making an inspection or investigation which, under
the provisions of this article, he or they may deem necessary.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Marshal and/or his inspectors to
inspect as often as necessary all buildings and premises, except the
interior of private dwellings, for the purpose of ascertaining and
causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fire or any
violations of the provisions or intent of any ordinance of the Borough
affecting the fire hazard.
B.
Whenever any inspector, as defined above, shall find in any building
or upon any premises combustible or explosive matter or dangerous
accumulations of rubbish or unnecessary accumulations of wastepaper,
boxes, shavings or any highly flammable materials and which are so
situated as to endanger life or property or shall find obstructions
to or on fire escapes, stairs, passageways, doors or windows liable
to interfere with the operations of the Fire Department or egress
of occupants in case of fire, he shall order the same to be removed
or remedied.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Marshal and/or his inspectors
to inspect all places of assembly at least once yearly so as to ensure
compliance with all laws, regulations and orders dealing with overcrowding,
use of decorations, maintenance of exitways and maintenance of fire
appliances in such places. Where conditions are found to be unsatisfactory,
written orders for immediate correction shall be given.
Whenever the Fire Marshal and/or his inspectors shall find any
building or other structure which, for want of repairs, lack of sufficient
fire escapes or fire extinguishing equipment or by reason of dilapidated
condition, or for any cause, is especially liable to fire and which
is so situated as to endanger other property, and whenever such officer
shall find in any building combustible or explosive matter dangerous
to the safety of such building, he shall order such dangerous conditions
to be removed or remedied in such manner as may be specified by the
Fire Marshal.
A.
The service of such orders as mentioned in §§ 160-5, 160-6 and 160-7 may be made upon the owner, occupant or other person responsible for the conditions either by delivering a copy of same personally or by affixing a copy thereof in a conspicuous place on the door to the entrance of said premises. Whenever it may be necessary to serve such an order upon the owner of a premises who is absent from the jurisdiction of the officer making the order, such order may be mailed to the owner's last known post office address.
B.
If buildings are owned by one person and occupied by another under
lease or otherwise, the orders issued in connection with enforcing
of this article shall apply to the occupant above, except where the
rules or orders require the making of additions to or changes in the
premises themselves, such as would immediately become real estate
and be the property of the owner of the premises; in such cases the
orders shall affect the owner.
C.
Any such order shall forthwith be complied with by the owner or occupant
of such premises or building. If such order is made by the Fire Marshal
and/or his inspectors, such owner or occupant may within five days
ask the Council of the Borough of Lindenwold for a review of the order.
The Fire Marshal shall investigate the cause, origin and circumstances
of every fire occurring in the Borough involving loss of life, injury
to person or by which property has been destroyed or damaged, and
so far as possible, shall determine whether the fire is the result
of carelessness or design. Such investigations shall be begun immediately
upon the occurrence of a fire by the Fire Marshal and/or his inspectors,
and if it appears that such a fire is of suspicious origin, he shall
take charge of the physical evidence and notify the proper authorities
designated by law to pursue the investigation of such matters and
shall further cooperate with the authorities in the collection of
evidence and prosecution of the case.
Nothing in this article shall be construed as applying to the
transportation of any article shipped in conformity with the regulations
prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission, nor as applying
to the military or naval forces of the United States.
The intent of this article, in addition to matters hereinbefore
enumerated, is to safeguard and restrict the storage, handling and
use of dangerous and hazardous materials to a reasonable degree with
respect to injury to persons and destruction of property. Installation,
construction and safeguards shall be provided in a standard modern
and approved manner. Compliance with standards of the State Fire Code
shall be prima facie evidence of such approved manner.
This article shall not be construed to affect the responsibility
of any party owning, operating or installing any equipment for damage
to persons or property caused by any defect therein, nor shall the
Borough be held as assuming any such liability by reason of the inspection
or reinspection authorized herein or by reason of the approval or
disapproval of any equipment authorized herein.
[Amended 10-19-1981 by Ord. No. 587]
A.
Any and all persons who shall violate any of the provisions of this article or fail to comply therewith, or who shall fail to comply with any order or regulation thereunder, shall severally, for each and every such violation and noncompliance, respectively, forfeit and pay a penalty as set forth in Chapter 1, § 1-1, of this Code. The imposition of one penalty for any violation of this article shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue, and all such persons shall be required to correct or remedy such violations or defects within a reasonable time, and when not otherwise specified, each 10 days that prohibited conditions are maintained shall constitute a separate offense.[1]
B.
The application of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent
the removal of prohibited conditions.
