Source: https://ecode360.com/9783589
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 22:16:24+00:00

Document:
§ 47-1 Fire Department recognized.
§ 47-2 Membership and organization.
§ 47-3 Powers and duties of Chief.
§ 47-5 Police power of Department.
§ 47-8 Authorization to hold volunteer funds.
§ 47-10 Authority to make deposits; control of funds; bank statements.
§ 47-11 Limitations on deposits; withdrawals; reporting and auditing requirements.
Emergency government and mutual fire aid — See Ch. 30.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 202.
The members of the Lake Tomahawk Volunteer Fire Department are hereby officially recognized as the Fire Department of the Town and the duty of fire fighting and the prevention of fires in the Town is delegated to such Department. Its organization and internal regulation shall be governed by the provisions of this article and by such bylaws adopted by the Department as are approved by the Town Board, except as is otherwise provided by law and ordinance.
The Town Fire Department is hereby authorized and directed to adopt bylaws for the control, management, government and the regulation of business and proceedings of the Department, which bylaws, after adoption by a 2/3 vote of the members of the Department, shall not become effective and operative until presented to and approved by the Town Board. Amendments shall be adopted in the same manner.
The Town Board shall appropriate funds to provide for operation and for such apparatus and equipment for the use of the Fire Department as it may deem expedient and necessary to maintain efficiency and properly protect life and property from fire.
Composition. The Fire Department shall consist of the following officers: a Chief, an Assistant Chief, a Second Assistant Chief, an Engineer, a Secretary and a Treasurer, together with as many drivers and firemen as may be approved for membership according to the bylaws of the Department. At no time shall the Department consist of fewer than 23 nor more than 35 active members.
Roster. The Secretary shall annually provide the Town Clerk with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all active members of the Department and shall immediately notify the Clerk of any changes in such roster so the Clerk's records for insurance purposes may be accurate at all times.
A vacancy in the office of the Chief shall be filled by an election of a majority vote of the members of the Fire Department, subject to approval of the Town Board. Upon creation of a vacancy in the office of Chief, the ranking officer shall perform the duties of Chief until such vacancy has been filled. The Volunteer Fire Department shall choose its own Chief, subject to approval of the Town Board.
The Chief shall immediately assume office and shall hold office until removed for cause after a hearing by action of all of the members of the Town Board, unless his services be sooner terminated by resignation or death.
Any person desiring to become a member of the Department shall file an application with the Chief or Secretary. Approval of such application shall require the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members present at any meeting of a quorum of the Department.
All resignations from the Department shall take the same course as applications for and appointments to membership.
Absence from three meetings or drills in succession without an acceptable excuse to the Chief shall be grounds for removal from membership by a 2/3 vote of the members present at any meeting of a quorum of the Department.
Any member or officer of the Department who has been expelled or demoted for any offense or neglect of duty or insubordination shall have the right to appear before the Town Board and state why such penalty should not be confirmed. The Town Board may by a 2/3 vote order the Chief to reinstate the member or officer. The Secretary shall report the name of each person removed or demoted to the Town Board.
The Department shall organize into one or, at the option of the Chief, two or more companies. The Chief may at any time make transfers which he deems necessary between companies.
Each of the companies of the Department shall be in the charge of an Assistant Chief or, in his absence, a captain or lieutenant who shall be responsible to the Chief.
Officers. The election of the Secretary and Treasurer and such other social officers as the bylaws may require shall be held at the annual meeting of the Department in such manner as is provided in the bylaws. In case of any vacancy the Chief shall appoint a member in good standing to fill the office until the next annual meeting and election.
The Chief shall have general supervision of the Department, subject to this article and the bylaws of the Department, and shall be responsible for the personnel and general efficiency of the Department.
The Chief shall preside at all meetings of the Department, call special meetings, prescribe order, decide all points of order that may arise and enforce a rigid observance of this article and the bylaws. The Chief shall have the right to appoint a Chairman to preside at meetings of the Department in the place and stead of the Chief.
The Chief shall be present at all fires if possible, have complete command of and entire responsibility for all fire-fighting operations, plan the control of the same, direct the action of the companies when they arrive at a fire, observe that every company does its duty, grant leaves of absence at a fire when he may deem it proper and see that the fire apparatus is kept in proper condition at all times.
The Chief shall have the power to demote or expel any officer or member of the Department for neglect or refusal to perform his departmental duties, such demotion or expulsion to be subject to an appeal to the Town Board.
Not later than September 1 of each year, the Chief shall file with the Town Clerk a detailed estimate of the appropriations needed for the conduct of the Department during the ensuing fiscal year.
The Chief shall submit a written report to the Town Board each year relating to the conditions of the various pieces of apparatus and appurtenances, the number of fires occurring since the previous report, the date of same and loss occasioned thereby, the number of members of each company, the total number of active members in the Department and resignations and expulsions from the Department. He shall also report upon the drill and training program of the Department, together with other pertinent information, including recommendations of such improvements as he deems proper and necessary for the operation of the Department.
He shall enforce all fire prevention ordinances of the Town and state laws and regulations pertaining to fire prevention and shall keep citizens informed on fire prevention methods and on the activities of the Department.
Editor's Note: See Ch. 202, Fire Prevention.
He shall keep a fire record of every fire to which any company was called and shall enter in such book the locality of fire, time alarm was received, cause of fire, where fire started, cause of delay (if any) in responding, method of extinguishment and equipment used, amount of insurance carried on building and contents, estimated fire loss, time fire was extinguished, names of men responding and general remarks.
He shall keep an inventory of all apparatus and equipment and an inventory of all hose showing dates and results of tests on each length, which shall be individually identified.
He shall perform such other duties as are incumbent on the commanding officer of the Fire Department.
The Chief shall have control of all apparatus used by the Department and shall be responsible for its proper maintenance. Emergency repairs may be authorized by the Chief.
No apparatus shall be used for any purpose except for fire fighting within the Town limits, or in training therefor, except pursuant to an agreement approved by the Town Board except when the Chief has given his recommendations on such use. With the approval of the Chief, such apparatus may be used for emergency purposes other than fire fighting. A written report of all such uses shall be made annually to the Town Board.
No person shall willfully injure in any manner any hose, hydrant or fire apparatus belonging to the Town, and no vehicle shall be driven over any unprotected hose of a Fire Department when laid down on any street, private driveway or other place, to be used at any fire or alarm of fire, without the consent of the Fire Department official in command.
The Chief and assistants or officers in command at any fire shall have full and complete police authority at fires. Any member of the Department may cause the arrest of any person failing to give the right-of-way to the Fire Department in responding to a fire.
The Fire Chief may prescribe certain limits in the vicinity of any fire within which no persons, excepting fireman and policeman and those admitted by order of any officer of the Department, shall be permitted to come. The Chief shall have the power to cause the removal of any property whenever it becomes necessary for the preservation of such property from fire or to prevent the spreading of fire or to protect adjoining property, and during the progress of any fire he shall have the power to order the removal or destruction of any property necessary to prevent the further spread of fire. He shall also have the power to cause the removal of all wires or other facilities and the turning off of all electricity or other services where the same impedes the work of the Department during the progress of a fire.
Any fireman, while acting under the direction of the Fire Chief or other officer in command may enter upon premises adjacent to or in the vicinity of any building or other property on fire for the purpose of extinguishing such fire, and if any person shall hinder, resist or obstruct any fireman in the discharge of his duty as herein provided, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of resisting a fireman in the discharge of his duties.
Every person present at a fire shall be subject to the orders of the Fire Chief or officer in command and may be required to render assistance in fighting the fire or in removing or guarding property. Such officer may cause the arrest of any person refusing to obey such orders.
This article is entitled the "Town of Lake Tomahawk, Lake Tomahawk Volunteer Fire Department, Volunteer Funds Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is to authorize the Town of Lake Tomahawk's Fire Department to hold volunteer funds in the name of the Lake Tomahawk Volunteer Fire Department.
The Town Board of the Town of Lake Tomahawk, Oneida County, Wisconsin, has the specific authority under § 66.0608, Wis. Stats., to adopt this article.
This article, adopted by a majority of the Town Board on a roll call vote with a quorum present and voting and proper notice having been given, authorizes the Town of Lake Tomahawk's Fire Department to hold volunteer funds in the name of the Lake Tomahawk Volunteer Fire Department as provided in this article.
A federal or state credit union, federal or state savings and loan association, state bank, savings and trust company, federal or state savings bank, or national bank in this state that receives or holds any public deposits or the local government pooled-investment fund.
Funds of a municipality that are raised by employees of the Town's Fire Department or by donation to the Fire Department for the benefit of the Town's Fire Department.
The Town Fire Chief is authorized to deposit volunteer funds in an account in the name of the Lake Tomahawk Volunteer Fire Department in any designated public depository.
The Fire Department, through the Town Fire Chief, shall have exclusive control over the expenditure of volunteer funds of the Department, subject to § 47-11.
Each month, the designated public depository shall be required to mail a duplicate bank statement for each account directly to the Town Treasurer disclosing all activity in the account for the preceding month.
The type of funds that may be deposited into the account described in § 47-10 is restricted to volunteer funds as described above.
The withdrawal must be approved in accordance with the adopted bylaws of the Fire Department.
The Town Fire Chief, his/her designee, or the Fire Department Treasurer shall provide the Town Board with quarterly statements of the Department's volunteer funds as of the end of March, June, September, and December of each calendar year. The statements shall be provided within 30 calendar days of the end of the calendar quarter. The statements shall include a detailed itemization of all receipts, expenditures, and the balance on hand at the end of the quarter. The source of all funds and the identity of the payee for each disbursement shall be set forth.
The Fire Department accounts shall be included in the annual audit of Town funds and shall be audited in the same manner as other Town funds.

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