HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 2656 - Amend Title 2 - Repeal & Reenact Chapter 2.32 ORDINANCE NO. 2656
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REDDING AMENDING REDDING
MUNICIPAL CODE TITLE 2 (ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL)
TO REPEAL AND REENACT CHAPTER 2.32 (FIRE DEPARTMENT)
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDDING DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section l. Title 2 (Administration and Personnel), Chapter 2.32 (Fire Department) is
hereby repealed and reenacted with a title to read as follows:
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Sections:
2.32.010 Established.
2.32.020 Fire Chief- Appointment.
2.32.030 Fire Chief—Duties generally.
2.32.040 Power to remove property.
2.32.050 Conduct of fire department employees.
2.32.060 Substitutes for officers.
2.32.070 Training drills.
2.32.080 Use of equipment.
2.32.090 Obstructing vehicles and apparatus.
2.32.100 Injuring equipment.
Section 2. Title 2 of the Redding Municipal Code is amended to add Sections 2.32.010
through 2.32.100, inclusive, to Chapter 2.32 to read as follows:
2.32.010 - Established.
There is established a Fire Department for the City of Redding.
2.32.020 - Fire Chief- Appointment.
The Fire Chief shall be appointed by the City Manager, subject to the approval of the City
Council.
2.32.030 - Fire Chief- Duties generally.
The Fire Chief is the chief executive officer of the Fire Department and is invested with the
following powers:
A. To have charge of the Fire Department facilities, its apparatus and employees. The Fire
Chief may make rules and regulations for the governance and management thereof. The
Fire Chief shall have such other duties as may be prescribed by this Chapter or which
may be imposed upon the Fire Chief from time to time by the City Manager.
B. To develop and maintain a range of programs and resources designed to protect the lives
and property of the inhabitants of the City of Redding from all predictable risks including
but not limited to: the prevention, suppression and recovery from undesired fire; injury
prevention, pre-hospital emergency medical care, rescue, extrication and recovery
services; the prevention and mitigation of unplanned or the inappropriate release of
hazardous materials; and community awareness, emergency preparedness and response
to other dangerous conditions.
C. To make a complete annual report to the City Manager at a time to be determined by the
City Manager concerning the Fire Department in general. The report shall provide a
description of the condition of the Fire Department, make recommendations for
improvements and describe the activities of the Fire Department during the year;
D. To have direct control, management and direction of all personnel of the Fire Department
and the power to direct them to such public service in the best interest and efficiency of
the department;
E. To enforce the rules and regulations of the City of Redding and its Fire Department and
to suspend or terminate from employment any subordinate employee in such a manner as
is provided herein or as provided through collective bargaining;
F. To exercise command over the Fire Department at emergency incidents and over all
equipment belonging to it;
G. To extinguish all fires with the least possible danger to life and property and prevent
unnecessary damage at fires;
H. To see that the premises on which fires occur are left in such condition that they will not
rekindle and cause further damage to life and property;
I. To make a complete record of each incident, investigation of each fire, keeping a record
of and determining the cause, amount of loss to buildings and contents, the number and
description of each building destroyed together with the names of the owners and
occupants;
J. It is the duty of the Fire Chief to see that all provisions of this Chapter and Chapter
9.20 are enforced, and for this purpose and while in the discharge of these duties, the Fire
Chief shall be vested with the powers of a peace officer;
K. While acting in the line of duty, to blockade any street and remove any persons or
property therefrom, to insure efficient working of firefighters and equipment and to
prevent injury to life and property;
L. Preserve order at all emergency incidents, and shall, whenever proper or necessary, call
upon the Chief of Police,or any other peace officer, to preserve order and to make arrests,
and to prevent interference with lawful orders or with firefighters.
2.32.040 - Power to remove property.
The Fire Chief, or Fire Chief s designee in command, shall have the power to cause the removal
of any property, whenever it shall become necessary to the preservation of such property in an
emergency, or to protect adjoining property. It is unlawful for any person to refuse to obey or
hinder any order given pursuant to this Section.
2.32.050 - Conduct of fire department employees.
Firefighters must conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively on the department.
Firefighters will exercise professionalism, competence, respect and loyalty in the performance
of their duties and use information, confidential or otherwise, gained by virtue of their position,
only to benefit those that they serve.
2.32.060 - Substitutes for officers.
The Fire Chief shall designate the order of succession of officers so that the designation shall be
clear in the absence of superiors. The superior officer shall take full charge at emergency
incidents if arriving there before the chief officers and shall report to them in person upon their
arrival, the condition of affairs.
2.32.070 - Training drills.
Regular drills and training for the Fire Department shall be conducted and carried on under the
direction and supervision of the fire chief or some responsible officer appointed by the Fire
Chief.
2.32.080 - Use of equipment.
A. It is unlawful for any person not a member of, or connected with, the Fire Department,
except emergency employees of the City, to ride on or use the apparatus or equipment of
the department except as authorized by the Fire Chief or other officer of the Fire
Department.
B. No part of the Fire Department apparatus of the City of Redding shall be taken out of the
city limits without permission of the Fire Chief or the City Manager. No part of the
equipment of the Fire Department shall be loaned to any person. No part of the Fire
Department apparatus of the City of Redding shall be taken from the fire station except
for the purpose of responding to emergencies or reports of emergencies; department
training; public relations or education; public assistance; repair of equipment, or in cases
where the equipment is needed to keep the equipment and crew available for immediate
response, except on permission of the Fire Chief or the City Manager.
2.32.090 - Obstructing vehicles and apparatus.
No person shall willfully or carelessly allow any vehicle in his/her control to obstruct the
apparatus of the Fire Department. Upon the approach of any vehicle or apparatus of the Fire
Department answering an alarm of fire or emergency call, and sounding a bell or siren,the driver
of any vehicle shall drive as close as possible to the right curb and stop. The driver of any vehicle
shall not follow the Fire Department vehicle within three hundred (300) feet. No vehicle except
by direction of an engineer of the Fire Department or other officer of the fire department shall
approach, park or operate within three hundred feet of a fire, fire equipment or appurtenances
thereto at any time.
2.32.100 - Injuring equipment.
No person shall willfully injure any engine house, hose, engine or any other apparatus or drive
over any hose of the Fire Department.
Section 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or
unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the
ordinance. The City Council of the City of Redding hereby declares that it would have passed
this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof irrespective of
the fact that one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases may be held invalid
or unconstitutional.
Section 4. The passage of this ordinance is not a"project" according to the definition
in the California Environmental Quality Act, and therefore is not subject to the provisions
requiring environmental review.
Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date of its adoption,
and the City Clerk shall certify to the adoption thereof and cause its publication according to
law.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced and read by the City
Council of the City of Redding at a regular meeting on the 15th day of November, 2022, and
was duly read and adopted at a regular meeting on the 20th day of December, 2022, by the
following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Audette,Mezzano,Munns and Winter
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Dacquisto
ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
M � MEZZANO, Vice Mayor
ATTES'I': APPROVED AS TO FORM:
PAMELA MIZE, Ci Clerk BARRY E. DeWALT, City Attorney