[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Elm Grove 3-22-1955; as amended through 2-8-1993. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Emergency management — See Ch. 22.
Alarm systems — See Ch. 91.
Emergency medical services — See Ch. 137.
Fire Prevention — See Ch. 150.
Fire Department bylaws — See Ch. A340.
The Elm Grove Volunteer Fire Department is hereby officially recognized as the Fire Department of the Village of Elm Grove. The duty of fire fighting and prevention in the village is delegated to such Department. The provisions of the Wisconsin statutes, the Wisconsin Administrative Code, this chapter and such bylaws as are approved by the Village Board of Trustees from time to time shall govern the organization and regulation of the Department.
The Village Board shall appropriate such funds for the use of the Fire Department as the Village Board may deem expedient and necessary to maintain efficiency and properly protect life and property from fire.
Qualification for membership, classification of members and procedures for application, resignation and expulsion shall be as provided in the bylaws.
The officers of the Fire Department shall consist of a Chief and such other officers as are provided in the bylaws. The terms of officers, the method of appointment and their respective duties shall be as provided in the bylaws.
A. 
The Fire Department shall be responsible for the proper maintenance of all of its equipment.
B. 
No Fire Department equipment shall be used for any purpose except for fire fighting within the village limits or in training therefor, except pursuant to an agreement approved by the Village Board. With the approval of the Village Manager, such equipment may be used within the village for purposes other than fire fighting.
C. 
All Fire Department equipment, whether new or of a replacement nature, shall be of a uniform size and type, as required by the Wisconsin statutes and the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
A. 
The Fire Department, through its duly authorized officers, is hereby vested, in conjunction with the Police Department and other authorized officials, with full and complete police authority at fires.
B. 
Any officer of the Fire Department may arrest any person failing to give the right-of-way to the Fire Department responding to a fire.
C. 
No person shall willfully injure in any manner any hose, hydrant or Fire Department equipment, and no vehicle shall be driven over any unprotected fire hose when laid down on any street, private driveway or other place for use at any fire or alarm of fire, without the consent of the Fire Department official in command.
D. 
The Chief, or other officer in charge, may prescribe certain limits in the vicinity of any fire within which no persons, excepting fire fighters and police officers and those admitted by order of any officer of the Fire or Police Department, shall be permitted to come.
E. 
The Chief, or other officer in charge, 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 or she shall have the power to order the removal or destruction of any property necessary to prevent the further spread of the fire. He or she shall also have the power to cause the removal of all wires or other facilities and the turning off of all electricity, gas or other services where the same impedes the work of the Fire Department during the progress of a fire. No person shall hinder, resist or obstruct the Chief or other officer in charge in the performance of his or her duties hereunder.
F. 
It shall be lawful for any fire fighter while acting under the direction of the Chief or other officer in charge to enter upon the premises adjacent to or in the vicinity of any building or other property then on fire for the purpose of extinguishing or controlling the spread of such fire. No person shall hinder, resist or obstruct any fire fighter in the performance of his or her duties hereunder.
G. 
No person shall give a false fire alarm in any manner whatsoever, nor shall any person interfere with the proper functioning of a fire alarm system,[1] nor shall any person interfere with the lawful efforts of fire fighters to extinguish or control a fire.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 91, Alarm Systems.
H. 
No person shall interfere with the accessibility to a fire hydrant within the Village of Elm Grove by piling or dumping any material near it.
[Amended 7-26-2005]
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation made under this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as provided in § 1-16 of this Code.
A. 
All members of the Village of Elm Grove Volunteer Fire Department who are injured, disabled or killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to workers' compensation and/or death benefits as provided for in Ch. 102, Wis. Stats., which chapter is expressly incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein.
B. 
In no event shall the Village of Elm Grove's liability exceed that provided for in Ch. 102, Wis. Stats., nor, as to third parties, shall the Village of Elm Grove's liability for the acts or omissions of its volunteer fire fighters or officers exceed that provided for in § 893.80, Wis. Stats.