(a) The owner, operator, or lessee, an employee of any owner, operator, or lessee, an occupant, and any person in direct control of any building regulated by the Ohio Building Code, or the owner or occupant of any residential structure, or any person within any residential structure, upon the discovery of an unfriendly fire, or upon receiving information that there is or may be an unfriendly fire on the premises, shall immediately, and with all reasonable dispatch and diligence, call or otherwise notify the Fire Division concerning the fire, and shall spread an alarm immediately to all occupants of the building. No person or entity shall, after being notified of a fire, attempt to control the fire in any manner without first ensuring the Fire Division is being or has been notified.
(b) Whenever an alarm monitoring station receives an alarm signal, it shall be assumed the alarm is functioning correctly and reporting an actual fire condition. The alarm monitoring station shall notify the Fire Division immediately, as the first party to be notified, of the alarm condition. All other parties to whom notification is requested shall be contacted only after the Fire Division is notified. Any alarm monitoring station failing to comply with this section shall be assessed a fine of at least five hundred dollars ($500.00), but not more than one thousand dollars ($1000.00).
(c) For the purpose of this section, the term "unfriendly fire" means a fire of destructive nature as distinguished from a controlled fire intended for a beneficial purpose.
(d) No person or entity shall fail to comply with this section.
(Ord. 43-97. Passed 5-27-97.)