(A) Fire Prevention Code adopted; scope. There is hereby adopted by the city, for the purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous to life and property from fire or explosion, that certain code known as the Fire Prevention Code, Abbreviated Edition, recommended by the American Insurance Association, being particularly the 1970 edition thereof and the whole thereof, save and except such portions as are hereinafter deleted, modified, or amended in this section, of which code not less than three copies have been and now are filed in the office of the City Clerk Treasurer. The Fire Prevention Code is hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and the provisions thereof shall be controlling within the limits of the city.
(B) Chief of the Fire Department to enforce Fire Prevention Code. The Fire Prevention Code adopted in this section shall be enforced by the Chief of the Fire Department.
(C) “Municipality” as used in Fire Prevention Code defined. Wherever the word, “Municipality” is used in the Fire Prevention Code adopted in this section, it shall mean the “City of Reading.”
(D) Duration of permits issued under the Fire Prevention Code. All permits issued under the Fire Prevention Code of the city are valid for a period of one year, unless revoked due to changes or conditions constituting a hazard.
(E) Modification of requirements of Fire Prevention Code. The Chief of the Fire Department shall have the power to modify any of the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code adopted in this section upon application in writing by the owner or lessee of property affected by the Fire Prevention Code, or his or her duly authorized agent, when there are practical difficulties in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the Fire Prevention Code, provided that the spirit of the Fire Prevention Code shall be observed, the public safety secured, and substantial justice done. The particulars of the modification when granted or allowed, and the decision of the Chief of the Fire Department thereon, shall be entered upon the records of the Department and a signed copy shall be furnished the applicant.
(F) Appeals from administrative actions of the Chief of the Fire Department. Whenever the Chief of the Fire Department shall disapprove an application or refuse to grant a permit applied for under the Fire Prevention Code, or when it is claimed that the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code do not apply or that the true intent and meaning of the Fire Prevention Code have been misconstrued or wrongly interpreted, the applicant may appeal from the decision of the Chief of the Fire Department to the Council within 30 days from the date of the decision appealed.
(G) Observance of state fire prevention laws. No person shall violate any law of the state, nor any rule or regulation adopted by any duly authorized agency of the state pertaining to fire, fire hazards, fire prevention, or fire waste.
(H) Flammable liquids regulations adopted. There are hereby adopted by reference those regulations promulgated by the State Police, Fire Marshal Division, contained in that publication entitled Flammable Liquids Regulations, being particularly the 1963 edition thereof; which regulation shall be in full force and effect in the city as if set out at length in this division.
(I) Liquefied petroleum gas regulations adopted. There are hereby adopted by reference as regulations covering the use and storage of liquefied petroleum gas in the city, those regulations promulgated by the State Police, Fire Marshal Division, and entitled Liquefied Petroleum Gases Regulations, effective May 13, 1960; which regulations shall have such force and effect as if set out at length in this division (I).
(J) Inspections; notice of violation.
(1) The Chief of the Fire Department is hereby empowered to enter at any and all reasonable times upon and into any premises, building, or structure for the purpose of examining and inspecting the same, to ascertain the condition thereof with regard to fire hazards and the condition, size, arrangement, and efficiency of any and all appliances for fire fighting.
(2) If an inspection made pursuant to division (J)(1) above shall disclose any fire hazard or any deficiency in fire fighting appliances, the Fire Chief shall order the condition remedied.
(3) The Chief of the Fire Department is empowered to appoint members of the regular personnel of the Fire Department to make the inspection hereinbefore provided for, who shall report in writing the results of the inspections to the Chief of the Fire Department and who are hereby empowered to make such written order in respect to the conditions found by them upon inspection as is hereby authorized to be made by the Chief of the Fire Department; the order shall be complied with forthwith. Should any person receiving such order consider himself or herself aggrieved thereby, he or she may, within 24 hours after the receipt of the order, appeal to the Chief of the Fire Department who shall thereupon make such written order in the premises as he or she may deem right and reasonable.
(4) No person shall fail to comply immediately with any order of the Chief of the Fire Department, or of his or her authorized representative, which orders are issued pursuant to this section.
(K) Obstruction of fire exits.
(1) No obstruction shall be placed or permitted to remain in the way of, or upon, any fire escape, balcony, or ladder intended as a means of escape from fire.
(2) No flammable material shall be placed or permitted to remain under or at the bottom of any stairway, elevator, or other part of any building used for the purpose of entering, leaving, or going from place to place within such building.
(3) No obstruction shall be placed or permitted to remain in hallways of multiple dwellings.
(4) No person shall obstruct or permit to be obstructed any door, aisle, or passageway of any theater, church, or other place of public assemblage with any furniture or article.
(5) No person shall sit or stand in any such place of assemblage in any aisle, or in any exit or passage required for the safe exit of the assemblage.
(6) Clear passage from all exits and on sidewalks must be maintained outside of all such places of public assemblage.
(7) No aisle, passageway, or stairway in any store shall be obstructed with tables, showcases, or other obstructions during hours said store is open to the public, or at any other time, unless an employee is actually present in such store.
(L) Accumulations of combustible materials.
(1) No person owning or being responsible for any premises shall permit any waste paper, ashes, oil, rags, waste rags, excelsior, cellophane or other flammable plastic material, tobacco, smoking wastes, or any material of a similar nature to accumulate thereon, unless contained in covered fireproof receptacles.
(2) No person owning or being responsible for any structure shall permit any waste paper, ashes, oil, rags, waste rags, excelsior, cellophane or other flammable plastic material, tobacco, smoking wastes, or any material of a similar nature to accumulate therein.
(M) Combustible materials in proximity to buildings; removal by the city.
(1) No fallen timber, wooden posts or poles, logs, brush bark, or sawdust piles, stubs, or stumps, or other flammable or combustible material or substance, likely to endanger the safety of any building, or to increase the speed of fire, shall be permitted upon any lot within 150 feet of any building thereon or upon any adjacent lot.
(2) Whenever the Chief of Police, the City Engineer, or the Chief of the Fire Department shall find any violation of division (M)(1) above he or she shall give written notice to the owner of the lot that such lot shall be cleared within five days. If the notice is not complied with within five days, or the owner of the said lot cannot be found within such time, the city may clear or cause to be cleared said lot at the expense of the owner thereof, and the expense of clearing, together with any fees or fines authorized by this code, shall be and remain a special assessment upon the lot, to be collected in the same manner as other special assessments are collected under this code.
(N) Dry cleaners and dyers.
(1) No person shall violate any provisions of M.C.L.A. §§ 29.201 through 29.330 et seq.
(2) The Chief of the Fire Department and his or her authorized representatives shall have authority to enter every establishment where commercial dry cleaning or dry dyeing or both are done, at all reasonable times, for the purpose of inspecting the premises to determine whether it is being operated in accordance with the terms of this section.
(O) Fire in streets. No person shall kindle fire in or upon any paved street or alley.
(P) Fires on private property. No person shall kindle any bonfire on any private property.
(1990 Code, § 100.002) (Ord. 7a, passed 4-2-1973) Penalty, see § 10.99