(A) The Fire Code Official shall be vested with the authority to declare a Stage I or Stage II restriction when the fire danger level for the town is at very high or extreme.
(B) (1) Stage I restrictions shall include the following restrictions and shall be implemented on and after May 1 of each year or earlier if the fire danger level of the town is set to very high:
(a) No smoking in any outside area with combustible ground cover, outside of vehicles, outside of residential yards or outside of designated smoking areas.
(b) No spark generating activity, including (without limitation) dragging metal objects behind a vehicle.
(c) No spark generating activities in connection with the categories set forth below outside of an enclosed building without first obtaining a permit from the town. Spark generating activities to include but not limited to:
1. Welding
2. Grinding
3. Cutting steel, asphalt, or block
(d) All current building permits must call for and pass an inspection of the area prior to undertaking any spark generating activities outside of an enclosed structure. Spark generating activities include but are not limited to:
1. Welding
2. Grinding
3. Cutting steel, asphalt, or block
(e) All spark generating activities shall be prohibited during days declared to have a red flag warning for the area as issued by the National Weather Service whether or not occurring before May 1 of each year.
(f) The use of ignition driven model rockets is prohibited.
(g) The use of fireworks and other pyrotechnic displays is prohibited.
(h) The use of flame in any outside area such as flame based weed removal is prohibited.
(i) Cooking, warming or campfires in all areas must have the responsible party within sight of the flame and must always be attended to until the flame has been extinguished and the coals are cold to the touch.
(j) Use of power-driven metal-bladed landscaping devices is prohibited.
(2) Stage II restrictions shall include the following restrictions in addition to those found in Stage I and shall be implemented any time the fire danger level of the town is set to extreme:
(a) No smoking outside of vehicles, outside of residential yards or outside of designated smoking areas.
(b) Wood burning for cooking, warming or campfires or the use of charcoal in all areas is prohibited
(c) The use of tiki torches or other devices that emit a flame is prohibited.
(C) If a conflict is found to exist between the requirements of a Stage II and a Stage I restriction the Stage II restriction shall prevail.
(D) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) COMBUSTIBLE GROUND COVER. Ground cover that is able to catch fire easily.
(2) DESIGNATED SMOKING AREA. A defined area in public spaces or commercial businesses that have been designated as an area where smoking is allowed.
(3) EXTREME FIRE DANGER LEVEL. In order to communicate the risk of fire to community the town uses the National Fire Danger Warning System. Extreme means fires start quickly, spread furiously, and burn intensely. All fires are potentially serious. Development into high intensity burning will usually be faster and occur from smaller fires than in the very high danger class. Direct attack is rarely possible and may be dangerous except immediately after ignition. Fires that develop headway in heavy slash or dense stands of trees may be unmanageable while extreme burning conditions lasts. Under these conditions the only effective and safe control action is on the flanks until the weather
changes, or the fuel supply lessens.
(4) RED FLAG WARNING. A forecast warning issued by the National Weather Service in the United States to inform the public, firefighters, and land management agencies that conditions are ideal for wildland fire and other combustion, and rapid spread.
(5) RESIDENTIAL YARDS. An enclosed section of private residential property that has had all combustible ground cover removed from the area.
(6) VEHICLE. A fully enclosed form of transportation with the windows in the upright or closed position.
(7) VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER LEVEL. In order to communicate the risk of fire to community the town uses the National Fire Danger Warning System. Very High means fires start easily from all causes and, immediately after ignition, spread rapidly and increase quickly in intensity. Spot fires are a constant danger. Fires burning in light fuels may quickly develop high intensity characteristics such as long-distance spotting and fire whirlwinds when they burn into heavier fuels.
(E) Authority to enforce violations of this section; means of enforcement.
(1) The Fire Code Official or designee, any peace officer, Town Marshal, the Town Attorney, or the Town Prosecutor may issue civil code complaints to enforce violations of this section designated as civil offenses.
(2) Any person authorized pursuant to this section to issue a civil complaint may also issue a notice of violation specifying actions to be taken and the time in which they are to be taken to avoid the issuance of a civil complaint.
(F) Liability for emergency responses related to the cause of a fire from a violation of Stage I or Stage II restrictions or related to emergency responses arising out of the use of motor vehicles, including (without limitation) driving a motor vehicle into an area inundated with water.
(1) A person who causes a fire due to a violation of a Stage I or Stage II restriction or who drives a vehicle into an area for which warnings have been posted about the risk of high-water levels, is liable for the expenses of any emergency response that is required to contain and extinguish such fire or evacuate the person from a vehicle immobilized due to high water levels. Such violation shall constitute negligence per se.
(2) The expenses of an emergency response are a charge against the person liable for those expenses pursuant to division (F)(1) above. The charge constitutes a debt of that person. The liability imposed under this section is in addition to and not limitation of any other liability that may be imposed.
(3) For purposes of this division (F), the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
(a) EXPENSES OF AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE means reasonable costs directly incurred by public agencies, for-profit entities or not-for-profit entities that make an appropriate emergency response to the incident. For-profit and not-for-profit entities may only recover the costs of such entities if the entities responded at the request of a public agency.
(b) REASONABLE COSTS include the costs of providing police, fire fighting, rescue, and emergency medical services at the scene of an incident and the salaries of the persons who responded to the incident.
(G) Penalty. The penalty for violating any prohibition or requirement imposed by this section shall be imposed pursuant to § 10.99, except that any person found to have violated any prohibition or requirement imposed by this section within the preceding 36 months shall, in addition to any penalty, fine or restitution payment, be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $2,500, by imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, by a term of probation not to exceed three years, or by any combination or such fine, penalty, restitution payment, imprisonment and probation.
(Ord. O2020-08, passed 11-2-2020; Am. Ord. O2024-05, passed 10-7-2024)