Fire Department established

309.   There shall be a Fire Department of the city, the head of which shall be the Fire Chief appointed by the Council.

1953-55-309.

Council powers in relation to Fire Department

310.   The Council may

Appointment of staff

(a) provide for the appointment of such other members of the Fire Department as may from time to time be necessary;

Acquisition of buildings

(b) acquire real property and erect and maintain buildings thereon for the use of the Fire Department or any other purpose authorized by this Part;

Equipment

(c) acquire such vehicles, engines, vessels, appliances, and other fire-fighting equipment as may be necessary for the purposes of the Fire Department;

Communication systems

(d) establish, acquire, equip, and maintain fire-alarm and police-patrol signal systems and such other systems of communication as may be considered necessary;

Entering into agreements with other local governments

(e) make agreements with municipalities, regional districts, the Provincial government or the Federal government for the provision of the city's fire fighting services, or use of the city's fire fighting equipment or communication or dispatch systems, inside or outside the city;

Agreement with owners or occupiers

(f) enter into agreements with owners or occupiers of property situate outside of the limits of the city for the providing of fire protection to such property and for the collecting of such charges therefor as may be agreed upon.

1953-55-310; 1957-85-8; 1990-76-5; 1997-25-180.

By-laws respecting fire prevention and control

311.   The Council may make by-laws

Enabling entry on premises

(a) for providing that any member of the Fire Department authorized by the Fire Chief may at any reasonable time enter any building or premises, or any part thereof, for the purpose of inspecting the same for conditions which may cause fire, or increase the danger of fire, or increase the danger to persons, and may order such precautions to be taken as are deemed necessary to reduce the danger of fire or danger to persons;

Direction of traffic at fires and other emergencies

(b) for

(i) empowering members of the Fire Department, in the absence of the police, to give directions for the regulation or diversion of vehicular traffic at or near a fire or in other emergency circumstances, and

(ii) requiring all persons to comply with such directions even though they may be at variance with traffic signs or the like;

Persons to assist at fires

(c) for regulating the conduct of persons at or near fires and requiring them to assist the Fire Department in fighting fires and in preserving property threatened by fire;

Buildings may be demolished

(d) for providing for the demolition of buildings and structures where such demolition is required to prevent the spreading of fire;

Handling of explosives, etc.

(e) for regulating the manufacture, processing, storage, sale, transportation, or use of combustibles, chemicals, explosives, inflammable or other dangerous things, and for defining and classifying them;

Gasoline and other pumps

(f) for regulating the construction, installation, and operation of pumps and other measuring devices used, or intended to be used, for the sale or other disposition of gasoline, oil, or other inflammable liquids;

Burning in the open

(g) for regulating the burning of any material in the open air;

Application of Fire Services Act

(h) relating to any matter within the scope of the Fire Services Act so long as such by-laws are not repugnant to any provision of that Act or the regulations thereunder;

Fire commissioner powers

(h.1) authorizing the Fire Chief to exercise some or all of the powers of the fire commissioner under section 25 [emergencies] of the Fire Services Act, and for these purposes that section applies.

Removal of fire-hazards

(i) for requiring the owners or occupants of real property

(i) to remove anything and everything from a building or yard which in the opinion of the Fire Chief or any person under the Fire Chief's authority is a fire-hazard or increases the danger of fire;

(ii) to clean chimneys and flues or other apparatus at fixed times or at any time when in the opinion of the Fire Chief or any person under the Fire Chief's authority failure to so clean may cause a fire or increase the danger of fire;

Prohibition of loitering in public buildings

(j) for prohibiting persons from standing, loitering, or sitting in the aisles, passages, and stairways of churches, theatres, halls, skating-rinks, auditoriums, and other places of public resort.

1953-55-311; 1963-60-10 to 12; 1978-22-10, proclaimed effective February 1, 1979; 2003-52-511; 2006-3-27; 2022-15-76,Sch 4.