The Fire Prevention Code, 1976 Edition, supplemented by the November 1982 amendments, as recommended by the American Insurance Association is hereby adopted by reference for the purpose of regulation of conditions hazardous to life and property from fire and explosion including the Appendix thereof, as stated in the “City of St. Francis Official Copy.” No fewer than three copies of the Fire Prevention Code shall be marked or stamped “Official Copy as Incorporated by the Code of the City of St. Francis,” and shall be filed with the city clerk to be open to inspection and available to the public at all reasonable hours of business.
(Code 1978, 5-201; Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
The code hereby adopted shall be enforced by the chief of the fire department.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
(a) Wherever the word municipality is used in the code hereby adopted, it shall be held to mean the City of St. Francis.
(b) Article 13, Fireworks, of the Fire Prevention Code is hereby deleted in its entirety.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to dispose of refuse by burning the same within the city other than in an approved incinerator constructed and operated in accordance with Air Pollution Emission Control Regulations of the State of Kansas as published by the Kansas State Department of Health. “Refuse” is defined as unwanted or discarded material resulting from residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural operations and from normal community activities. “Refuse” includes in part garbage, paper, rubbish, dead animals, animal wastes, leaves, limbs and other plant wastes.
Regulations relating to the types of fires that will be allowed and those fires that will be allowed upon providing prior notification and the exceptions of such fire shall be as follows:
(a) The following fires shall not constitute a violation of this article:
(1) Fires set for the purpose of instructing and training city firemen in the methods of fighting fires;
(2) Fires set at the direction of the mayor or governing body for destruction of abandoned or condemned structures and buildings;
(3) Fires set in residential fireplaces;
(4) Fires set for the preparation of food, such as barbecuing or charcoaling;
(5) Campfires in approved camping area: Provided that the fire in not more than four feet in diameter at the base;
(b) The following fires shall not constitute a violation of this article as long as notification is given to the city fire department and city power plant prior to the planned fire and authorization obtained from the fire department to proceed with said fire:
(1) Fires set for the disposal of tree trunks, tree limbs, leaves or other vegetation: Providing that the notification of said fire sets forth the responsible person, what is to be burned, and the location of the fire and the estimated time it is to be commenced. No notification will be approved in the event that such fire would constitute a hazard to surrounding buildings or property or would constitute a nuisance. The responsible person is to remain on the scene of the authorized fire until it is completely extinguished.
(c) During dry climatic conditions and high velocity winds in the city, the mayor may declare by proclamation an emergency and suspend the burning under subsection (a) and (b) of this section in which event burning or fires thereunder shall constitute a violation of this article.
(Code 1978, 6-202; Ord. 468; Code 2003; Code 2015)
It shall be unlawful for any person to allow to accumulate or to keep in any part of any building or outside of and adjacent to any building or in any alley, sidewalk, street or premises within 30 feet of any building any rubbish, trash, waste paper, excelsior, empty boxes, barrels or other combustibles which shall constitute a fire hazard.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit, stack, or store any hay or straw within 500 feet of any building located inside the fire limits of the city.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
It shall be unlawful to keep excelsior or other packing material in any other than metal or wood metal line boxes or bins having self-closing or automatic covers. All refuse and trash from rooms where packing or unpacking is done shall be removed daily.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
It shall be unlawful to store ashes inside of any nonfireproof building unless they are stored in a noncombustible container or receptacle, and a clearance of at least five feet shall be maintained between such container or receptacle and any combustible materials not placed therein. Ashes shall not be stored outside of any building in wooden, plastic, or paper product receptacles or dumped in contract with or in close proximity to any combustible materials.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
The engines of motor vehicles shall be stopped when the gasoline tanks of such vehicles are being filled with gasoline at service stations or other places where gasoline is supplied to motor vehicles. The driver or person in control of such vehicle when the gasoline tank of same is being filled who refuses, neglects or fails to stop the engine of such vehicle shall likewise be guilty of a violation of this code.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
It is unlawful for any person to cause or create anywhere within the city, or to permit on any premises under his or her control, any situation or condition that is conductive to or likely to cause or permit the outbreak of fire or the spreading of fire. Any situation or condition conductive to the outbreak of or spreading of fire, is declared to be a fire hazard. The violation of or failure to comply with any law pertaining to the storage, handling or use of inflammable oils, explosives, liquefied petroleum gases, or fertilizers and all wires and other conductors charged with electricity, is declared to be a fire hazard. The placing of stools, chairs or any other obstruction in the aisles, hallways, doorway, or exit of any theater, public hall, auditorium, church or other place of indoor public assemblage, or the failure to provide any such place of public assemblage with sufficient, accessible and unobstructed fire exits and escapes is also declared to be a fire hazard. The obstruction of any street, avenue, alley, fire hydrant or any other condition that might delay the fire department in fighting fire is declared to be unlawful.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
It shall be the duty of the fire chief to inspect or cause to be inspected by fire department officers or members, as often as may be necessary all buildings, particularly all mercantile buildings, manufacturing plants, warehouses, garages, hotels, boarding houses, rooming houses, theaters, auditoriums and all places of public assemblage, for the purpose of discovering the violation of any fire preventive law or any fire hazard and ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fires and to see that all places of public assemblage, hotels and rooming houses have sufficient and unobstructed facilities for escape therefrom in case of fire.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
Whenever any officer or member of the fire department shall find or discover any fire hazard or shall find in any building or upon any premises combustible or explosive material or dangerous. accumulation of rubbish or unnecessary accumulation of paper, boxes, shavings or any other inflammable material, so situated as to endanger property by the probability of fire, or shall find or discover any violation of this chapter or any other law hazardous to public safety from fires, the fire chief shall order the fire hazard or danger from the fire forthwith abated and remedied and such order shall be complied with immediately by the owner or occupant of such buildings or premises. If the hazard or condition ordered abated and remedied is a violation of, or a failure to comply with any law, the fire chief shall report the matter to the city attorney and he or she shall, if he or she deems it advisable, prosecute the offender.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)
Any order made under Section 7-212 shall be in writing and may be served personally upon the owner or occupant of the premises or by leaving it with any person in charge of the premises or if the premises are unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident of the city, then by mailing a copy to the owner’s last known post-office address. One notice to either the occupant or owner shall be sufficient. The fire chief shall keep a record of and copies of all such orders and notices and shall follow up such notices at the expiration of the time for compliance therewith and when complied with make proper entry, and if not complied with, file complaint with the municipal court against the property owner and/or occupant.
(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)