A responsible party or responsible parties are jointly and severally liable for and shall be required to reimburse the City of Howell and/or the Howell Area Fire Authority for all costs incurred in responding to a fire, extraordinary emergency incident or incendiary fire, including but not limited to:
(a) Costs or expenses incurred by the Howell Area Fire Authority, its fire department, and the City of Howell, as well as any other fire department, police agency, emergency medical service agency, public service or public works department, technical or specialty rescue response team, private contractor and any other entity whose assistance is requested by or contracted for by the Howell Area Fire Authority, including all actual expenses attributable to the response, mitigation of the incident and clean-up, including all actions deemed necessary by the Howell Area Fire Authority Fire Chief to preserve public safety, including the costs of equipment, operations, personnel, materials utilized, meals and overtime costs for personnel, medical expenses for any injuries resulting to response personnel, costs of specialists, experts, contractors, and consultants, legal fees, engineering fees, water costs, rental or purchase of machinery and/or equipment, costs related to canine response, costs related to the repair or replacement of any equipment or apparatus damaged in the course of the response, costs incurred by any agency whose response is requested by the Howell Area Fire Authority Fire Chief pursuant to any mutual aid agreement, and any other incidental costs of the Howell Area Fire Authority and the City of Howell, incurred because or related to the response to the fire, extraordinary emergency incident or incendiary fire.
(b) Charges to the Howell Area Fire Authority and/or the City of Howell or either's agencies imposed by any local, state or federal government entities related to the fire, extraordinary emergency incident or incendiary fire.
(c) Costs incurred by the Howell Area Fire Authority and/or the City of Howell in accounting for the fire, extraordinary emergency incident or incendiary fire expenditures, including billing and collection costs, court costs, and actual attorney fees. If a responsible party or parties fail to pay charges assessed under this ordinance, and a collection action is subsequently filed, the responsible party or parties shall be responsible for any and all actual costs incurred by the Howell Area Fire Authority and/or the City of Howell in the course of such collection action.
(Ord. 761. Passed 8-23-04.)