Section III. - Volunteer Fire Department
SECTION III.
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
3.01 VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT CONTINUED; APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS
a) There is continued in this city a Volunteer Fire Department, which
department shall have the following officers: a Chief, and Assistant Chief and a Fire Marshall.
b) The Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department shall be appointed by the City
Council. The Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department shall appoint each year an Assistant Chief and a Fire Marshall, subject to confirmation by the City Council. The Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department, the Assistant Chief and the Fire Marshall each shall hold office for one year and until the successor has been duly appointed or qualified. These officers may be removed by the City Council for cause and after a public hearing. If one of the officers duly appointed shall resign his or her office, be removed from office by the City Council, or is deceased during his or her term of office, the successor shall be duly appointed by the City Council as soon as is practical and no later than two weeks from the time the position becomes open. The officer so appointed is so appointed for the period of the unexpired term of the vacated office.
c) Firefighters and probationary firefighters shall be appointed by the Chief
of the Volunteer Fire Department, subject to confirmation by the City Council. Firefighters shall continue as members of the Volunteer Fire Department during good behavior until retirement, but may be removed by the City Council for cause after a public hearing.
3.02 DUTIES OF CHIEF.
The Chief shall have control of all fire fighting apparatus and shall be responsible for its care and condition. The Chief shall make a report semi-annually to the City Council at its meeting in March and in September as to the conditions of the equipment and needs of the Volunteer Fire Department. The Chief may submit additional reports and recommendations at any meeting of the City Council, and he or she shall report each suspension by him or her of a member of the Volunteer Fire Department at the first meeting of the City Council following the suspension. The Chief shall be responsible for the proper training and discipline of the members of the Volunteer Fire Department, and may suspend any member for refusal or neglect to obey orders pending final action by the City Council on his or her discharge or retention.
3.03 DUTIES OF FIRE MARSHALL.
The office of Fire Marshall may be held by the Chief or Assistant Chief, if the City Council approves. The Fire Marshall shall be charged with the enforcement of all city ordinances and laws of the state for fire prevention including, if authorized by the City Council, the Uniform Fire Code, Minn. Rules Ch. 7510, as it may be amended from time to time. The Fire Marshall shall have full authority to inspect all premises and to cause the removal or abatement of all fire hazards.
3.04 RECORDS.
The Chief shall keep in convenient form a record of all fires. The record shall include the time of the alarm, location of fire, cause of fire, if known, type of building, name of owner or tenant, purpose for which occupied, value of building and contents, members of the Volunteer Fire Department responding to the alarm and other information as he or she may deem advisable or as may be required from time to time by the City Councilor state law or regulation.
3.05 PRACTICE DRILLS.
It shalhbe the duty of the Chief, when the weather permits, to hold practice drills for the volunteer Fire Department and to give the firefighters instruction in approved methods of fire fighting and fire prevention.
3.06 ASSISTANT CHIEF.
In the absence or disability of the Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department, the Assistant Chief shall perform all functions and exercise all of the authority of the Chief.
3.07 FIREFIGHTERS.
Firefighters shall not be less than 18 years of age and able bodied. They shall become members of the Volunteer Fire Department only after a 12-month probationary period. The City Council may require that each candidate, before he or she may become a probationary firefighter, must possess certain minimum height. weight, education, mental and physical health requirements, and any other qualifications which may be specified by the City Council.
3.08 LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP.
Firefighters shall forfeit membership in the Volunteer Fire Department for unreasonable inattention to duties or lack of attendance at meetings or calls or disobedience of orders or other due cause, and any firefighter may be suspended by the Chief pending hearing upon his or her removal. Firefighters absent from three consecutive drills or calls, unless excused by the Chief, shall forfeit membership in the V olunteer Fire Department.
3.09 COMPENSATION.
The members and officers of the Volunteer Fire Department shall receive compensation as provided by the City Council.
3.10 INTERFERENCE WITH VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT.
It shall be unlawful for any person to give or make, or cause to be given or made, an alarm of fire without probable cause, or to neglect to refuse to obey any reasonable order of the Chief or other firefighter at a fire, or to interfere with the Volunteer Fire Department in the discharge of its duties. Penalty see Section XII.
3.11 BYLAWS.
The Volunteer Fire Department may adopt bylaws for its government, which bylaws shall be effective upon approval by the City Council.