[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of
Fredonia as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted as Secs. 5-2-2 to 5-2-10 of the 1995 Code]
No person shall impede the progress of a fire engine, fire truck
or other fire apparatus of the Fredonia Fire Department along the
streets or alleys of such Village at the time of a fire or when the
Fire Department of the Village is using such streets or alleys in
response to a fire alarm or for practice.
A.
The Chief and assistants or officers in command at any fire are hereby
vested with full and complete police authority at fires. Any officer
of the Department may cause the arrest of any person failing to give
the right-of-way to the Fire Department in responding to a fire.
B.
The Fire Chief may prescribe certain limits in the vicinity of any
fire within which no persons, excepting firefighters and police officers
and those admitted by order of any officer of the Department, shall
be permitted to come.
C.
The Chief shall have the power to cause the removal of any property
whenever it shall become necessary for the preservation of such property
from fire or to prevent the spreading of fire or to protect the adjoining
property, and during the progress of any fire he shall have the power
to cause the removal of all wires or other facilities and the turning
off of all electricity or other services where the same impedes the
work of the Department during the progress of a fire.
A.
Driving over fire hose. No person shall willfully injure in any manner
any hose, hydrant or fire apparatus belonging to the Fredonia Fire
Department, and no vehicle shall be driven over any unprotected hose
of the Fire Department when laid down on any street, private driveway
or other place, to be used at any fire or alarm of fire, without the
consent of the Fire Department official in command.
B.
Parking vehicles near hydrants. It shall be unlawful for any person
to park any vehicle or leave any object within 10 feet of any fire
hydrant at any time.
C.
No parking near fire. It shall be unlawful for any person, in case
of fire, to drive or park any vehicle within one block from the place
of fire without the consent and authority of the Fire Chief or any
police officer.
A.
Entering adjacent property. It shall be lawful for any firefighter
while acting under the direction of the Fire Chief or any other officer
in command to enter upon the premises adjacent to or in the vicinity
of a building or other property then on fire for the purpose of extinguishing
such fire and in case any person shall hinder, resist or obstruct
any firefighter in the discharge of his duty as is hereinbefore provided,
the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of resisting firefighters
in the discharge of their duty.
B.
Destruction of property to prevent the spread of fire. During the
progress of any fire, the Fire Chief or his assistant shall have the
power to order the removal or destruction of any property necessary
to prevent the further spread of fire, provided that it is inevitable
that, unless such property is removed, other property is in danger
of being destroyed by fire.
Every person who shall be present at a fire shall be subject
to the orders of the Fire Chief or officer in command and may be required
to render assistance in fighting the fire or in removing or guarding
property. Such officer shall have the power to cause the arrest of
any person or persons refusing to obey said orders.
Whenever there shall be a fire or fire alarm or the Fire Department
shall be out for practice, every person driving or riding in a motorized
or other vehicle shall move and remain to the side of the street until
the fire engine and fire truck and other fire apparatus shall have
passed.
A.
The Fire Chief shall investigate the cause, origin and circumstances
of every fire occurring in the Village which is of suspicious nature
or which involves loss of life or injury to persons or by which property
has been destroyed or substantially damaged. Such investigations shall
be begun immediately upon the occurrence of such a fire by the Fire
Chief and, if it appears that such fire is of suspicious origin, the
Fire Chief shall take charge immediately of the physical evidence,
shall 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 in the prosecution of
the case.
B.
The Village Attorney and the Police Department, upon the request
of the Chief of the Fire Department, shall assist in the investigation
of any fire which, in the opinion of the Chief of the Fire Department,
is of suspicious origin.
A report of the Fire Department shall be made annually and transmitted
to the Fredonia Village Board. It shall contain all proceedings under
this article, which such statistics as the Fire Chief may wish to
include therein. The Fire Chief shall also recommend any amendments
to the article which, in his judgment, shall be desirable.
A.
Responsibility. The Chief shall have control of all apparatus as
used by the Department and shall be responsible for its proper maintenance.
Emergency repairs may be authorized by the Chief, or the next officer
in charge in the Chief's absence, after checking with the Village
President and the Public Safety Committee Chairman.
B.
Use. No apparatus shall be used for any purpose except for firefighting
or training, except pursuant to an agreement approved by the Village
Board, after the Chief has given his recommendations for such use.
[Adopted as Secs. 5-3-1 to 5-3-11, 5-3-13 to 5-3-18 of the
1995 Code]
It is the intent of this article to prescribe regulations consistent
with recognized standard practice for the safeguarding to a responsible
degree of life and property from the hazards of fire and explosion
arising from the storage, handling and use of hazardous substances,
materials and devices and from conditions hazardous to life and property
in the use or occupancy of buildings or premises.
A.
General applicability. The provisions of this article shall apply
equally to new and existing conditions, except that existing conditions
not in strict compliance with the terms of this article shall be permitted
to continue where the exceptions do not constitute a distinct hazard
to life or adjoining property.
B.
Exceptions. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
as applying to the transportation of any article or thing shipped
in conformity with the regulations prescribed by the Interstate Commerce
Commission, nor as applying to the military forces of the United States.
A.
The following orders, rules and regulations of the Department of
Safety and Professional Services, all of which are set forth in the
Wisconsin Administrative Code, as from time to time amended, and in
the NFPA 1 Fire Prevention Code, as from time to time amended, are
incorporated herein by reference and adopted as part of this Fire
Prevention Chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
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Ch. SPS 307, Explosives and Fireworks
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Ch. SPS 310, Flammable and Combustible Liquids
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Ch. SPS 314, Fire Prevention
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Ch. SPS 332, Public Employee Safety and Health
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Ch. SPS 340, Gas Systems
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Ch. SPS 343, Anhydrous Ammonia
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Chs. SPS 361 to 365, Commercial Building Code
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Wisconsin Electrical Code
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B.
Whenever the provisions of the aforementioned codes conflict, the
stricter interpretation shall apply.
C.
Copies of each of said codes are on file in the office of the Chief
of the Fire Department of the Village of Fredonia and shall remain
so filed and be, at all reasonable times, open to inspection by any
interested persons.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall,
for the purpose of this article, have the following meanings.
Listed or approved by Underwriters' Laboratories Inc.,
Factory Mutual Research Corp., the National Bureau of Standards, the
American Gas Association Laboratories or other nationally recognized
testing authorities and accepted by the Fire Chief as a result of
his investigations and experiences.
A supervised system which automatically detects a fire condition,
actuates a fire alarm signal device and indicates the location from
which the signal originates.
A building occupied exclusively for residence purposes and
having not more than two apartments or as a boarding or rooming house
serving not more than five persons with meals or sleeping accommodations,
or both.
Any container approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission
for shipping any liquid, gaseous or solid material of a flammable,
toxic or other hazardous nature.
A building in which persons are harbored to receive medical,
charitable or other care or treatment, or in which persons are held
or detained by reason of public or civic duty or for correctional
purposes.
A building, or portion thereof, containing three or more
dwelling units, occupied as the home or residence of individuals,
families or households living independently of each other, including
tenement house, apartment, flat, townhouse, row house, condominium,
dormitory, boarding or rooming house serving more than five persons
with meals or sleeping accommodations, or both.
Includes person, persons, firm, corporation or copartnership.
A building in which persons congregate for civic, political,
education, religious, social or recreational purposes.
Except when classed as an institutional building, means a
building in which sleeping accommodations are provided.
The Fire Chief, or any subordinate designated by him, may, at
all reasonable hours, enter any building or premises within his jurisdiction
for the purpose of making any inspection or investigation which, under
the provisions of this article, he or they may deem necessary to be
made. Private dwellings shall not be entered without the consent or
permission of an adult occupant.
A.
The Fire Chief, or his designee, shall be the Fire Inspector of the
Village of Fredonia and shall have the power to appoint one or more
deputy Fire Inspectors and shall perform all duties required of the
Fire Inspectors by the laws of the state and rules of the Department
of Safety and Professional Services, particularly § 101.14,
Wis. Stats.
B.
While acting as Fire Inspector pursuant to § 101.14(1)(b),
Wis. Stats., the Fire Chief, or any officer of the Fire Department
designated by the Fire Chief, shall have the right and authority to
enter any building or upon any premises in the Village of Fredonia
at all reasonable hours for the purpose of making inspections or investigations
which, under the provisions of this Code of Ordinances, he may deem
necessary. Should the Fire Inspector find that any provisions of this
Code relating to fire hazards and prevention of fires are being violated,
or that a fire hazard exists which should be eliminated, it shall
be his duty to give such directions for the abatement of such conditions
as he shall deem necessary and if such directions be not complied
with, to report such noncompliance to the Village Board for further
action.
C.
The Chief of the Fire Department is required, by himself or by officers
or members of the Fire Department designated by him as fire inspectors,
to inspect all buildings, premises and public thoroughfares, except
the interiors of private dwellings, for the purpose of ascertaining
and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fire, or
any violations of any law or ordinance relating to the fire hazard
or to the preventions of fires. Such inspections shall be made at
least once in six months in all of the territory served by the Fire
Department, and not less than once in three months in such territory
as the Village Board has designated or thereafter designates as within
the Village or as a congested district subject to conflagration, and
oftener as the Chief of the Fire Department orders. Each six-month
period shall begin on January 1 and July 1, and each three-month period
on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 of each year.
D.
Written reports of inspections shall be made and kept on file in
the office of the Chief of the Fire Department in the manner and form
required by the Department of Safety and Professional Services. A
copy of such reports shall be filed with the Fire Chief.
The Chief of the Fire Department shall keep a record of all
fires and of all the facts concerning the same, including statistics
as to the extent of such fires and the damage caused thereby. All
such records shall be public.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
The Chief shall have power to modify any of the provisions of
this Fire Prevention Code upon application, in writing, by the owner
or lessee, or his duly authorized agent, when there are practical
difficulties in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the code,
provided that the spirit of the code shall be observed, public safety
secured and substantial justice done. The particulars of such modification
when granted or allowed and the decision of the Chief thereon shall
be entered upon the records of the Department, and a signed copy shall
be furnished the applicant.
Whenever the Fire Chief shall disapprove an application or refuse
to grant a permit applied for or when it is claimed that the provisions
of this article do not apply or that the true intent and meaning of
the chapter have been misconstrued or wrongly interpreted, the applicant
may appeal from the decision of the Fire Chief to the Village Board
within 10 days from the date of the decision of the Fire Chief. In
the event of such appeal, the Board shall set a time and place for
hearing hereof and give to the appellant at least 10 days' notice
thereof by mail or personally.
A.
Intent. To ensure adequate water supply for firefighting purposes
to new structures, buildings, tank farms, lumber yards, commercial
or industrial complexes located at extended distances from Village
water hydrants on private property.
B.
Where required. At any tank farm, lumber yard, commercial or industrial
complex, any structure or building now existing or hereafter erected
or structurally altered to increase the floor area by 50% or more
shall provide, at the owner's expense, an approved water hydrant
when such building is set back 250 feet or more from any street or
highway or is located more than 500 feet from a Village water hydrant.
Required hydrants shall be freestanding and shall be located not more
than 50 feet or less than 25 feet from the building. One hydrant shall
be located not more than 50 feet or less than 25 feet from the main
entrance to such building. Additional hydrants shall be provided around
the perimeter of the building so that no water hydrant is more than
500 feet from any other approved hydrant by normal access routes.
All water hydrants shall be located within 10 feet of an all-weather
road and shall be accessible at all times to the Fire Department.
The water main serving the hydrant shall be ductile iron and shall
not be less than eight inches in diameter. Hydrant leads shall be
ductile iron or PVC and shall be six inches in diameter.
C.
Fire equipment on private property. The Fire Department, through
its authorized representative, must approve all fire hydrants, standpipes
and sprinkler systems for commercial, industrial or institutional
buildings or properties. A permit must be issued before such equipment
may be installed. Hydrants to be used on such properties shall be
of a type approved by the Fredonia Utility Committee and be consistent
with the type universally used in the Village of Fredonia. The hydrant
must open to the right with a Fredonia standard operating unit. Hydrants
are to be placed with six feet of earth cover and sufficient drainage
bedding to allow the hydrant to drain dry. Hose connection for Class
1 standpipes and Fire Department connections for sprinkler and standpipe
connections shall be 2 1/2 inch diameter and shall have national
standard couplings. Connection points shall be between three feet
and four feet above the finished property grade. All hydrants shall
be painted standard red. All sprinkler and standpipe connections shall
be painted red.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
D.
Permits.
(1)
Building permits. No building permit for any building covered by
this section shall be issued unless the Building Inspector's
copy of the plans for the proposed building has been stamped "Approved"
by the Fredonia Fire Department.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
(2)
Construction inspections. While a covered building is under construction,
the Building Inspector, Plumbing Inspector, Electrical Inspector and
Fredonia Fire Department Inspector will share jointly in the responsibility
of conducting inspections to see that the provisions of this Code
have been carried out.
A.
Lights and devices. No person shall take an open flame or light into
any building, barn, vessel, boat or any other place where highly flammable,
combustible or explosive material is kept, unless such light or flame
shall be well-secured in a glass globe, wire-mesh cage or similar
approved device.
B.
Place of assembly. No open flames, candles or other open flame fixture,
whether equipped with a guard or not, shall be used in any place of
assembly, except within duly constituted church or lodge buildings.
Such open flame candles or other flame fixtures, whether equipped
with a guard or not, shall not be used in auditoriums or church or
lodge buildings, except when such candles or fixtures are actually
held by persons seated, standing or in procession in such auditorium.
Such candles or fixtures need not be held by persons in the auditorium
if they are securely supported on noncombustible bases, the flame
is at least seven feet above the floor, are so located as to avoid
danger of ignition of combustible material, are under constant observation
and supervision by a responsible person designated for each aisle,
are kept lighted only when necessary during the ceremony or ritual
and extinguished before the occupants leave the auditorium.
C.
Stages. Open flame devices may be used on stages or church altars
where a necessary part of the theatrical or religious performance
requires, provided adequate precautions satisfactory to the Chief
of the Fire Department are taken to prevent ignitions of any combustible
materials.
D.
Restaurants. Open flame devices used for the warming of food may
be used in restaurants and dining areas, provided such devices and
their location are approved by the Fire Chief.
E.
Exceptions. The use of other open flame light and devices not herein
regulated may be permitted by the Fire Chief under such restrictions
as, in his judgment, are necessary to avoid danger of ignition of
combustible material or injury to persons.
A.
Hot ashes and other dangerous materials. No person shall deposit
hot ashes or cinders, or smoldering coals, or greasy or oily substances
liable to spontaneous ignition into any wooden receptacle or place
the same within 10 feet of any combustible materials, except in metal
or other noncombustible receptacles. Such receptacles, unless resting
on a noncombustible floor or on the ground outside the building, shall
be placed on noncombustible stands and, in every case, must be kept
at least two feet away from any combustible wall or partition. Ashes
or cinders shall be cold before Village rubbish collection.
B.
Accumulations of waste materials. Accumulations of wastepaper, hay,
grass, straw, weeds, litter or combustible or flammable waste or rubbish
of any kind shall not be permitted to remain upon any roof or in any
court, yard, vacant lot or open space. All weeds, grass, vines or
other growth, when the same endangers property or is liable to be
fired, shall be cut down and removed by the owner or occupant of the
property it is on.
C.
Regulating storage and handling of gasoline within the Village.
(1)
No person, firm or corporation shall store or handle gasoline in
quantities of more than 10 gallons on private premises unless he has
first obtained a written permit from the Village Fire Chief certifying
compliance with the requirements of this article and any further reasonable
conditions imposed by the Chief for the preservation of life and property.
(2)
The Fire Chief may revoke a permit issued hereunder at any time if
he determines that the permittee has violated any provision of this
article or failed to comply with any order of the Chief for the reduction
of fire hazards or the protection of life or property, subject to
the right of the permittee to appeal within one day of the date of
revocation to the Village Board for review of the Chief's action
or order.
D.
CLOSED CONTAINER
PRIVATE PREMISES
SAFETY CAN
STORE and STORAGE
Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to terms under
this section:
A metal container so sealed by means of a lid or other device
that neither liquid nor vapor will escape from it at ordinary temperatures.
Any one- or two-family dwelling or other structure which
is not a public building or place of employment as defined in the
Wisconsin Statutes or not an apartment building as defined in the
Wisconsin Administrative Code, and the lot or parcel of land upon
which such dwelling or structure is located and also any vacant lot
located in a residential district as set forth in the Village Zoning
Code.[1] (Any block in which 50% or more of the frontage on the
same side of the street is devoted to non-business or non-industrial
uses.)
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
A metal container of not over five gallons' capacity of a
type approved by agencies of the State of Wisconsin as safe for the
storage of small quantities of flammable liquids and equipped with
an automatic spring-closing lid and spout cover.
To keep on hand for future use, but does not include gasoline
contained in the motor fuel supply tank of less than 275 gallons'
capacity connected to an internal combustion engine, provided such
tank is leak-free, securely capped and protected by all necessary
safety appliances.
A.
Order to eliminate. Whenever any of the officers or inspectors of
the Fire Department shall find in any building or upon any premises
dangerous or hazardous conditions as follows, he or they shall order
such dangerous conditions or materials to be removed or remedied in
such a manner as they may be specified in the order:
(1)
Dangerous or unlawful amounts of combustible or explosive matter.
(2)
Hazardous conditions arising from defective or improperly installed
equipment for handling or using combustible or explosive matter.
(3)
Dangerous accumulations of rubbish, wastepaper, boxes, shavings or
other highly flammable materials.
(4)
Accumulations of dust or waste materials in air-conditioning systems
or of grease in kitchen exhaust ducts.
(5)
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.
(6)
Any building or other structure which for want of repairs, lack of
sufficient fire escapes or other exit facilities, automatic or other
fire alarm apparatus or fire extinguishing equipment, or by reason
of age or dilapidated condition, or from any other cause, creates
a fire hazard or threat to life and safety.
B.
Service of orders.
(1)
The service of such orders may be made upon the owners, occupant
or other person responsible for the conditions, either by delivering
a copy of the same personally or by delivering the same to and leaving
it with any person in charge of the premises or, in case no such person
is found upon the premises, by affixing a copy thereof in a conspicuous
place on the door to the entrance of the said premises. Whenever it
may be necessary to serve such an order upon the owner of premises,
such order may be served whether by delivering it to and leaving with
the person a copy of the order or, if such owner is absent from the
jurisdiction of the officer making the order, by mailing such copy
to the owner's last-known post office address.
(2)
If building or other premises are owned by one person and occupied
by another under lease or otherwise, the orders issued in connection
with the enforcing of this article shall apply to the occupant thereof,
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 rules or orders shall affect the owner and not the occupant
unless it is otherwise agreed between the owner and the occupant.
The Fire Chief is hereby empowered to designate the number,
type and location of fire extinguishers as may be deemed necessary
in addition to those now required by law in all existing buildings
and structures and in all buildings and structures hereafter erected.
A.
Requirement for. When required by the Fire Department, hard-surfaced
driving lanes shall be provided around facilities which, by their
size, location, design or contents warrant access which exceeds that
normally provided by the proximity of Village streets.
B.
General provisions. Lanes shall provide a minimum, unobstructed continuous
width and height of 12 feet. Lanes shall be identified by a four-inch-wide
line and block letters two feet high, painted in the lane, at fifty-foot
intervals stating, "Fire Lane - No Parking," color to be bright yellow,
or by the posting of signs stating "Fire Lane - No Parking." Signs
shall be posted on or immediately next to the curbline, or on the
building. Signs shall be 12 inches by 18 inches and shall have letters
and background of contrasting colors, readily readable from at least
a fifty-foot distance. Signs shall be spaced no further than 50 feet
apart. Signs shall be mounted a minimum of four feet and a maximum
of 6 1/2 feet from the pavement to the bottom edge of the sign.
Fire lanes shall be either asphalt or reinforced concrete, four inches
thick minimum, or, when specifically authorized by the Fire Department,
compacted crushed rock may be used. Where fire lanes connect to Village
street or parking lots, adequate clearances and turning radii shall
be provided. All proposed plans for such lanes must have Fire Department
approval.
C.
Fire lanes as part of driveways and/or parking areas. The Fire Department may require that areas specified for use as driveways or private thoroughfares shall not be used for parking. These areas, when specified, shall be marked or identified by one of the two means detailed in Subsection B above.
E.
Prohibitions. Parking of motor vehicles or otherwise obstructing
fire lanes shall be prohibited at all times.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
This Fire Prevention Code shall be enforced by the Chief of
the Fire Department of the Village of Fredonia and such subordinates
in said department as the Chief shall designate or by the Village
Marshal of Fredonia. The Village Building, Plumbing and Electrical
Inspectors shall cooperate with the Fire Department in enforcing this
article.
