(a) Notifying fire department. Whenever a fire occurs in any building or premises of any kind, it shall be the duty of the owner, manager, occupant or person in control of such building or premises, upon discovery of a fire or evidence of there having been a fire, even though it has apparently been extinguished, immediately to cause notice of the existence of such fire, circumstances of same and the location thereof to be given to the central fire communications center. This requirement shall not be construed to forbid the owner, manager or person in control of the aforementioned building or premises from using all diligence necessary to extinguish such fire prior to the arrival of the fire department. No person shall make, issue, post or maintain any regulation or order, written or verbal, that would require any person to take any delaying action prior to reporting a fire to the central fire communications center.
(b) Evacuation. Whenever a fire occurs in a building or there is reason to believe a fire exists in a building, the building must be immediately evacuated and not reoccupied without the permission of the fire official in charge. If the building is provided with a manual fire alarm system, it is the duty of any person who has knowledge of the fire to activate the manual fire alarm. Complete evacuation is not required when other procedures are detailed in a fire plan that has been approved by the fire official. (1975 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 30, §1.)