(A) There shall be and is hereby created and established a Fire Department consisting of one Fire Chief, one Secretary, one Treasurer and other officers, assistant chiefs and members of the Fire Department as may from time to time be provided for by the President and Board of Trustees.
(B) The members of the Fire Department shall hold monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month, and shall, on the first Monday of each June, elect one Fire Chief, one Secretary, one Treasurer and other officers and assistant chiefs as may have theretofore been provided for by the President and Board of Trustees, and those officers so elected shall qualify and take office on the first Monday of the following July. Each officer so elected shall hold office for one year, subject to reelection, and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified.
(C) The Fire Chief shall, upon taking office and at the regular meeting held on the first Monday of July in each year, appoint the engine persons, ladder persons, hosepersons, nozzle-persons, hydrant persons, and make other appointments and prescribe duties as may be necessary and proper in the organization and effective operation of the Fire Department during that year. The Fire Chief shall have the control and supervision, subject to the order and direction of the Board of Trustees, of the Fire Department and all fire apparatus and equipment belonging to the village. In case of fire, the Fire Chief and his or her assistants in their order or rank, shall take command at the fire, and the officer highest in rank shall take command of the Fire Department and direct the management thereof for the suppression of the fire, in the best manner possible; and when it may be necessary for the protection of other property to prevent the spread of the conflagration, and the officer in command may cause buildings to be removed, torn down or destroyed in the best manner possible.
(D) The Secretary shall keep a record of all meetings of the company and the attendance of the members, a record of all fires and the attendance of the members at the fires, and during the last week of June of each year, file with the Village Clerk, a full report of the record of attendance, and fires, which the report shall be made under oath. He or she shall also keep other records, make reports and keep and furnish statistics as may be required of him or her by law.
(E) (1) The Treasurer of the Fire Department, before taking office, shall execute and file with the Village Clerk, a sufficient bond to the village, to be approved by the President, conditioned for the faithful performance of his or her duties under this section, and in a penal sum to be fixed by the President and Board of Trustees.
(2) The Treasurer shall receive all moneys collected for and on behalf of the Fire Department, including the tax or license fee from foreign fire insurance companies, and shall pay the same upon the order of the Fire Department for the purposes of maintenance, use and benefit of the Department. The Treasurer shall make monthly reports to the Fire Department of the condition of the funds in his or her hands, and shall, on the last day of June in each year, make a sworn report and statement to the President and Board of Trustees of the village of all moneys received and disbursed by him or her as the Treasurer and the balance of the moneys in his or her hands.
(3) The books, records and accounts of the Treasurer shall be faithfully kept, and shall, at all times, be open to inspection and an audit of the President and Board of Trustees of the village. He or she shall, at the expiration of his or her term of office, surrender, pay and deliver to his or her successor in office, all books, records, accounts and moneys in his or her hands as the Treasurer.
(F) It shall be the function and duty of the Fire Department and every member thereof to extinguish accidental or destructive fires, to prevent the occurrence or spread of fires, and to enforce all ordinances relating to the occurrence or spread of the fires.
(G) Any firefighter in attendance at a fire who shall neglect or refuse to obey the orders of the officer in command at the fires, shall upon conviction, be fined not less than five dollars.
(H) It shall be the duty of all officers of the Fire Department and all police officers of the municipality to see that the provisions of this section are enforced, and to arrest on view any person who shall be found violating any of the provisions of this section, or who shall hinder, resist or refuse to obey an officer in the discharge of his or her duty, and to that end all the officers are hereby vested with the usual power and authority of police officers.
(I) Whoever shall use any fire engine, hose, cart or any other apparatus belonging to the municipality for any private use, other than the extinguishing of fires, or whoever shall remove the same or any part thereof from its place of deposit, or having the control thereof shall permit the engine, hose, cart or other apparatus to be used for any private purposes other than as aforesaid, shall upon conviction, be fined not more than $200.
(Ord. 209, passed 5-10-1950)