The provisions of the Fire Prevention Code shall be administered and enforced by the Fire Chief and any other person authorized to enforce the provisions of this article by and under the supervision and direction of the this City's Fire Chief has the authority to enforce all ordinances of the City having to do with:
(a) Prevention of fire;
(b) The storage, sale and use of any explosive, combustible or other dangerous article or articles in solid, flammable liquid or gas form;
(c) The installation and maintenance of equipment of all sorts intended to extinguish, detect and control fires;
(d) The means and adequacy of exit, in case of fire, from buildings and all other places in which persons work, live or congregate, from time to time, for any purpose, except buildings used wholly as dwelling houses for no more than two families;
(e) The suppression of arson; and
(f) Any other thing necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this article including, but not limited to, confiscating any materials, chemicals, items, or personal property owned, possessed or used in direct violation of the City's Fire Prevention Code.
(1) Enforcement of rules and ordinances - The Fire Chief and any other person authorized to enforce the provisions of this article by and under the supervision and direction of this City's Fire Chief shall enforce the rules and ordinances as authorized by this article.
(2) Inspections generally - The Fire Chief and any other person authorized to enforce the provisions of this article under the supervision and direction of the this City's Fire Chief shall inspect all structures and facilities, other than one and two family dwelling houses, subject to this article, including, but not limited to, state, county and municipally owned institutions, all public and private schools, health care facilities, theaters, churches and other places of public assembly to determine whether the structures or facilities are in compliance with the City's Fire Prevention Code.
(3) Right of entry - The Fire Chief and any other person authorized to enforce the provisions of this article under the supervision and direction of the this City's Fire Chief may, at all reasonable hours, enter any building or premises, other than one and two family dwelling houses, for the purpose of making an inspection which he or she may consider necessary under the provisions of this article. The Fire Chief may enter upon any property, or enter any building, structure or premises, including one and two family dwelling houses during construction and prior to occupancy, for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with the conditions set forth in any permit or license issued by the office of the state fire marshal pursuant to subdivision (1), subsection (a), section twelve-b [§ 29-3-12b] or article three-b [§§ 29-3B-1 et seq.] of the West Virginia State Code.
(4) Violations for which citations may be issued include but are not limited to:
A. Overcrowding places of public assembly;
B. Locked or blocked exits in public areas;
C. Failure to abate a fire hazard;
D. Blocking of fire lanes or fire department connections (FDC);
E. Tampering with, or rendering inoperable, except during necessary maintenance or repairs, on-premise firefighting equipment, fire detection equipment or fire alarms systems.
(5) Issuance of citations for fire and life safety violations - The Fire Chief and any other person authorized to enforce the provisions of this article under the supervision and direction of the this City's Fire Chief are hereby authorized to issue citations, within the corporate limits of the City of Lewisburg, for fire and life safety violations of the City of Lewisburg Fire Prevention Code. Provided, that a summary report of all citations issued pursuant to this section by persons authorized under this section shall be forwarded monthly to the City's Fire Chief in such form and containing information including but not limited to the violation for which the citation was issued, the citation number, the date of issuance, the name of the person issuing the citation and the name of the person to whom the citation was issued, The City's Fire Chief may at anytime revoke the authorization of a person authorized by this subsection (e) of this section to issue citations.
(6) Required liability coverage - No person authorized by this section may be authorized to issue a citation until evidence of liability coverage of such person has been provided by the City of Lewisburg.
(Ord. 215. Passed 10-19-10.)