(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
AIDING MUNICIPALITY. A municipality furnishing fire equipment and personnel to a stricken municipality or to another aiding municipality.
MUNICIPALITY. A city or village.
MUTUAL AID AREA. The territory occupied within the municipal limits and other areas protected by the following municipalities in the county: Cicero, Forest Park, North Riverside, Oak Park, River Forest, Stickney and Berwyn. This area is subject to change as new municipalities adopt the Mutual Fire Aid Program and as current participating municipalities withdraw therefrom.
MUTUAL FIRE AID PROGRAM. A plan or program as provided for in this section whereby the municipalities participating in the program agree to come to one another’s assistance in case of emergency, fire or other disaster too large for local equipment and personnel to handle.
PARTICIPATING MUNICIPALITY. A municipality in the mutual aid area that participates in the Mutual Fire Aid Program by adopting an ordinance authorizing or approving the program and by entering into an appropriate agreement (substantially as provided in this section) with other participating municipalities for rendering and receiving aid in case of emergency, fire or other disaster.
STRICKEN MUNICIPALITY. A participating municipality in which an emergency, fire or other disaster occurs that is of the magnitude that local fire equipment and personnel cannot cope with or provide adequate service.
(B) Mutual Fire Aid Program agreement. The Mayor and the Fire Chief are hereby authorized, on behalf of the city, to enter into, and from time to time to alter and amend, a Mutual Fire Aid Program agreement. The agreement shall include, in general, the following provisions.
(1) If, in the judgment of the officer in charge of the Fire Department of a stricken municipality, the available fire equipment and personnel of that municipality is inadequate to effectively service or cope with an emergency, fire or other disaster therein, the officer may request an adjoining participating municipality to furnish fire equipment and personnel (to the extent specified in the agreement) to the stricken municipality, for use either in assisting at an emergency, in combating a fire or other disaster or as a standby reserve to meet other Fire Department calls that may arise before the local fire equipment is free to service them.
(2) Each aiding participating municipality furnishing fire equipment and personnel to a stricken municipality may request from another participating municipality fire equipment and personnel (to the extent specified in the agreement) as a standby reserve to substitute, in part, for the equipment and personnel furnished to the stricken municipality until the equipment and personnel are returned.
(3) On receipt of a call under division (B)(1) or (2) hereof, the aiding municipality called upon shall (to the extent provided in the agreement) furnish the equipment and personnel called for by the stricken municipality or by the aiding municipality, except that each municipality is always permitted to retain sufficient fire equipment and personnel to fight any fire or to meet any emergency within its own boundaries that may reasonably be anticipated.
(C) Participating municipalities.
(1) A Mutual Fire Aid Program agreement conforming to division (B) hereof has been agreed upon by the Chiefs of the Fire Departments of the municipalities of Berwyn, Cicero, Forest Park, North Riverside, Oak Park, River Forest and Stickney. The Fire Chief of the city has reviewed and approved the program.
(2) The agreement shall be binding upon the city and other participating municipalities in accordance with its terms.
(D) Obligation of city. The city shall furnish fire equipment and personnel for use outside its boundaries, as provided in the Mutual Fire Aid Program agreed to as provided in division (B) hereof, to any participating municipality.
(E) Authority of Fire Chief. The Fire Chief of the city may send fire equipment and personnel into the corporate boundaries of a participating municipality whenever requested to do so pursuant to and in accordance with the terms of the Mutual Fire Aid Program agreement, provided that the action will not jeopardize the safety, protection, welfare or security of the residents, businesses and property located in the city.
(F) Notice. Notice of the passage of this section shall be given to all participating municipalities named in the mutual aid area referred to in the definition in division (A) hereto.
(Ord. 87-39, passed 7-28-1987)