(a) The Minerva Fire Prevention Bureau in the Minerva Fire Division is hereby established, which shall be operated under the supervision of the Minerva Fire Chief who reports to the Safety Director.
(b) The Fire Chief shall recommend to the Safety Director an officer or member of the Minerva Fire Division to be appointed to the position of Chief of the Minerva Fire Prevention Bureau who shall hold such office at the pleasure of the Safety Director.
(c) The Fire Prevention Bureau Chief may appoint such other members of the Fire Department as inspectors or investigators as shall from time to time be necessary subject to the approval of the Safety Director.
(d) It shall be the duty of the officers of the Fire Prevention Bureau to enforce all laws and ordinances covering, but not limited to, the following:
(1) The prevention of fires,
(2) The storage and use of explosives and flammables,
(3) The installation and maintenance of automatic and other private fire alarm systems and fire extinguishing equipment,
(4) The maintenance and regulation of fire escapes,
(5) The maintenance and protection and the elimination of hazards in buildings and structures, including those under construction,
(6) The means and adequacy of exits in case of fire, from factories, schools, hotels, lodging houses, asylums, hospitals, churches, halls, theatres, and all other places in which numbers of persons work, live, or congregate from time to time for any purpose,
(7) The investigations of the cause, origins and circumstances of fires.
(e) The Fire Prevention Bureau shall have such other powers and perform such other duties as are set forth in other ordinances, and as may be confirmed and imposed from time to time by law.
(f) The Director of Law and the Police Division upon request of the Fire Prevention Bureau shall assist the inspectors in the investigation of any fire which is believed to be of suspicious origin.
(g) The Fire Prevention Bureau shall prepare monthly reports containing all proceedings under the Ohio Fire Code and NFPA 101, with such statistics as the Fire Chief may wish to include therein and copies shall be forwarded to the Fire Chief and Safety Director. Annual reports of a similar type are to be prepared before January 20 of each year and are to be distributed to Council. The Minerva Fire Chief shall also recommend from time to time any amendments to the Ohio Fire Code or other ordinances which in his judgment appear desirable.
(Ord. 34-84. Passed 7-24-84.)