The following ordinances were transcribed from a book containing the original Borough ordinances pertaining to the new Stamford Fire Department.
Be it ordained by the Warden and Burgesses of the Borough of Stamford:
SECTION 1. The fire department of the Borough of Stamford shall consist of a chief engineer and two or more assistant engineers; together with such engine, hook and ladder, and hose companies as the Board of Warden and Burgesses may from time to time organize.
SECTION 2. Steam fire engine companies shall be composed of a captain, who shall be ex officio clerk of the company, one engineman, one assistant engineman, who must be competent to run the engine, two drivers and twelve men. Hook and ladder companies shall be composed of a captain, who shall be ex officio clerk of the company, one driver and ten men.mmHose companies shall be composed of a foreman, an assistant foreman, who shall be ex officio clerk of the company, and any such number of men as may from time to time be prescribed by the Board of Warden and Burgesses.
SECTION 3. The chief engineer and assistant engineers shall be elected and hold office as provided in the charter of the Borough. The chief engineer and assistant engineers shall constitute the Board of fire control, and a majority of the board shall be a quorum for the transaction of business. Said board shall organize within ten days of the election of the members thereof.
SECTION 4. The chief engineer, or in his absence the senior assistant engineer in rank present, shall preside at the meeting of the Board of fire control. The Borough Clerk shall be ex officio clerk of said board, and he shall record in a book to be kept for the purpose all the orders and doings of said board and shall perform such other clerical duties as said board may from time to time require of him,
SECTION 5. The Board of fire control shall make and publish rules and regulations for the government of the fire department, subject, however, to the approval of the Board of Warden and Burgesses before such rules and regulations shall take effect.
SECTION 6. All officers and members of the fire department except the chief and assistant engineers may be nominated for election by the Board of fire control but shall be elected by the Board of Warden and Burgesses, and they shall hold office until removed, discharged or released therefrom. Every vacancy in such offices arising from any cause shall also be filled by said Board of Warden and Burgesses, and the Board of fire control shall forthwith report every such vacancy to said Board of Warden and Burgesses and nominate a candidate to fill the same. The said Board of Warden and Burgesses, however, shall not be bound by any nomination to office made by said Board of fire control but may accept or reject the same at pleasure.
SECTION 7, The fire department shall at all times be subject to the orders of the chief engineer. It shall be his duty to exercise thorough supervision of the department and to have general charge of the property of the Borough connected therewith. He shall attend all fires which may occur in the Borough, and all orders given by him to any assistant engineer, officer, company or fireman, shall be promptly obeyed. He shall make a quarterly report to the Board of Warden and Burgesses of all expenditures of the fire department. In case of any violation of duty on the part of the chief engineer, the same shall be reported to the Warden and Burgesses immediately by the Board of fire control. A plan of the Borough, defining on the same the reservoirs, cisterns, fountains, hydrants, and available wells from which water can be obtained in cases of fire, shall be furnished to each fire company, and shall be kept posted up in a conspicuous place in the house of each company. The chief engineer shall cause the same to be revised and corrected at least once each year.
SECTION 8. The chief engineer shall see that the officers and members of the several companies are kept in due subordination and faithfully discharge their duties. He shall, under the direction of the Committee on the fire department, see that the property of the Borough held for fire purposes, including engine houses and grounds, are kept in proper repair and in good condition for immediate use. That all ordinances, rules, and regulations relative to the fire department are strictly observed, and shall forthwith report all breaches thereof to the Board of Warden and Burgesses.
SECTION 9. An annual report of the chief engineer shall be made to the Warden. Said report shall embrace the number, extent, and causes of the fires which have occurred within the Borough for the year next preceding; a list of the property belonging to the Borough in connection with the fire department, with a statement of the condition of such property and the estimated value thereof; the amount of property purchased for the use of the department, and the amount worn out, lost or destroyed during the said preceding year, together with a detailed statement of the quantity of materials consumed, and of all the costs and expenses of the department, and of the number of men employed therein; and said chief engineer shall make such other and further report as may from time to time be required, either by the Warden or by the Board of Warden and Burgesses, or by any committee thereof. The chief engineer may require the assistant engineers to aid him in the preparation of said reports.
SECTION 10. The chief engineer shall present quarterly to the Committee on fire department of the Board of Warden and Burgesses the payroll of the department, in which each company shall be arranged separately. On such payroll the captain of each company shall subscribe and make an oath to a statement setting forth the names of all the members of his company; the time of service of each member during the quarter next preceding; the amount of compensation due each member for such service, and the amount of all forfeitures, if any, to be deducted from the compensation of each member for any violations of the rules and regulations of the fire department.
SECTION 11. At any time for misconduct or inefficiency in office, any member or members of the fire department may be suspended from office by the chief engineer for the term of forty-eight hours, and within that time may be by the Board of fire control, if they shall see fit, further suspended, until such time as the Board of Warden and Burgesses may, by vote, restore or remove the suspended member or members,
SECTION 12. It shall be the duty of the assistant engineers to repair immediately to fires within the Borough, to obey all orders given to them by the chief engineer, and to assist him in the discharge of his duties as far as possible. In the absence of the chief engineer, the fire department shall be subject to the orders of the assistant engineers, and as may be provided for in the rules and regulations of the fire department.
In case any assistant engineer, officer or member, shall be guilty of any disobedience, disrespect, or other improper conduct, it will be the duty of the chief engineer, forthwith to report the same to the Board of Warden and Burgesses.
SECTION 13. When on duty the chief engineer and the assistant engineers may each carry a speaking-trumpet, and shall wear such badge to distinguish them in their respective offices as the board of fire control shall direct. The chief engineer or officer in command shall have the power to prescribe certain limits in the immediate vicinity of a fire within which only members of the fire department on duty, the Warden, members of the Board of Burgesses, police, owners of the property, and residents within said limits, shall be admitted, except by permission or direction of the officer in command. The chief engineer or officer in command shall have the power to cause the immediate arrest and detention of any fireman or other person who shall make any disturbance at a fire or alarm of fire. Any officer in charge of the fire department, at any fire, may command the aid of any person present in suppressing the fire or to assist in the removal and preservation of property exposed to the fire, and any person so commanded shall render the aid required, and in default thereof shall pay a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.
SECTION 14. The chief engineer or officer in command at any fire, when it shall be deemed necessary, after obtaining the sanction of the Warden, or in his absence, of the senior Burgess, may order any building or structure to be destroyed or torn down to prevent the spreading of a fire.
SECTION 15. Every member of the fire department shall, within ten days after his election, deposit with the chief engineer, the sum of one dollar, for which sum a badge of membership shall be issued to him; and no badge shall be issued to any member until said sum shall have been so deposited by him.
The chief engineer shall deposit with the Treasurer of the Borough all moneys received by him for such badges.
Every member upon leaving the department or being dismissed therefrom shall surrender his badge to the chief engineer, receiving, therefore, a certificate in writing from the said engineer, that such member is entitled to receive from the Borough Treasurer the sum of one dollar, so deposited by him; and until the surrender of his badge and all other property of the Borough in his possession, no member shall receive any compensation that might otherwise be due him for his services.
SECTION 16. The bailiff shall upon an alarm of fire detail a sufficient number of police to attend the fire, to preserve order and to assist in protecting property, and in keeping the grounds about the fire free from obstruction for the use of the fire department; and the police when on this duty, shall be subject to the orders of the officer in charge of the fire department.
SECTION 17. No engine or other property belonging to the Borough connected with the fire department shall be taken out of the Borough unless under such regulations as the Board of Warden and Burgesses may from time to time establish; nor shall more than one engine leave the Borough at any one time.
SECTION 18. No engine or other fire apparatus shall be taken from the engine house, except upon an alarm of fire, unless by order of the chief engineer or acting chief engineer of the fire department.
SECTION 19. Any member of the fire department who shall wantonly injure any property of the said department or wrongfully convert any of said property to his own use, shall be dismissed from the department, and be ineligible to reappointment.
SECTION 20. A detail of firemen may be made from any company or companies, by the officer in charge, upon an order from the chief engineer or assistant engineer in command, for special duty under the direction of an assistant engineer, provided they are not employed in discharging the duties of their own company.
SECTION 21. No engine house or other building occupied by any portion of the fire department shall be used for any purpose other than for the legitimate and necessary purposes of the department, nor shall the same be made a place of resort for persons other than members of the fire department; nor shall any of said houses or buildings be opened on Sunday but for necessary purposes of the department.
No gambling shall be permitted in any building used by the department, and the officer in charge of the company whose members offend will be held accountable in addition to the particular person offending, for any breach of this section: and any member who
shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be liable to dismissal from the department.
SECTION 22. No intoxicating liquors shall be allowed in any building used by the fire department, and no member while on duty will be allowed to enter any saloon for the purpose of drinking, and no permanent member of the department will be allowed to frequent any place where intoxicating liquors are sold.
SECTION 23. No person except an officer of the Borough member of the company occupying such building shall be permitted to enter any building used or occupied by the fire department except by permission of the officer in charge, or as provided for in the rules and regulations of the department, and any person violating the provisions of this section shall pay a fine of not less than five dollars.
SECTION 24. Any person who shall willfully deface or injure any property of the fire department shall pay a fine of not less than ten or more than fifty dollars.
SECTION 25. No expenditure in the fire department shall be made except by direction of the Committee on the fire department; and no expenditure of more than twenty-five dollars for the same, or for any single project, object, proposition, improvement, or purpose shall be made or authorized in the said department except by express vote of the Board of Warden and Burgesses.
