An Act To Increase Civil Penalties for Violations of Fire Code Laws Applicable to Fire Escape Installment and Maintenance
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1326
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: HASKELL, STRIMLING

Legislative Document 
No. 1326 
H.P.934 
House of Representatives, March 12,2007 
An Act To Increase Civil Penalties for Violations of Fire Code Laws 
Applicable to Fire Escape Installment and Maintenance 
Submitted by the Department of Public Safety pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative HASKELL of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator STRIMLING of Cumberland. 
Prinled un recycled pa~r 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 25 MRS A §2453, as amended by PL 2001, c. 31, § 1, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place: 
§24S3. Fire escapes; appeals 
1. Certain buildings; more than one way of egress. Each stOry above the first 
story of a building used as a schoolhouse, orphan asylum, hospital for the mentally ill, 
reformatory, opera house, hall for public assemblies, hotel or tenement house occupied by 
more than 2 families or store in which more than 10 persons are employed above the first 
story must be provided with more than one way of egress, by stairways on the inside or 
fire escapes on the outside of such a building. The stairways and fire escapes must be 
constructed, in a number or of a size and in a location so as to give reasonably safe, 
adequate and convenient means of exit, in view of the number of persons who may need 
to use the stairway or fire escape, must at all times be kept free from obstruction and must 
be accessible from each room in each story above the first story. 
2. 
Apartment building; single exit permitted with sprinkler svstem. 
Any 
apartment building of 3 stories or less in its entirety is permitted to have a single exit 
under the condition that the building is protected throughout by an approved automatic 
sprinkler system and meets the requirements of the applicable chapter of the National Fire 
Protection Association Life Safety Code 101 and every sleeping room has a second 
means of escape. 
3. 
Commissioner approval of fire escape or alarm system. 
An individual, 
partnership or corporation may not offer for sale in this State any type of fire escape 
device or fire alarm system without first securing approval of the Commissioner of Public 
Safety. 
4. Order of the commissioner. A person or corporation aggrieved by an order of 
the Commissioner of Public Safety issued under this section may appeal to the Superior 
Court by filing within 30 days from the effective date of the order a complaint. The court 
shall fix a time and place of hearing and cause notice of the time and place to be given to 
the commissioner. After the hearing, the court may affirm or reverse in full or in part an 
order of the commissioner, and the decision of the court is final. If the commissioner, in 
the interest of public safety and because the commissioner determines there is immediate 
danger, forbids the use of a building for any public purpose until satisfactory compliance 
with the commissioner's order, the order becomes effective·immediately and the filing of 
the complaint may not operate as a stay. 
S. Violation. A violation of this section by a person, firm or organization is a civil 
violation punishable by a fine of not more than $500. 
Page I - 123LR0909(OlH 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides that a person, firm or organization that violates the law pertaining 
to the installment and maintenance of fire escapes commits a civil violation for which a 
fine of not more than $500 may be assessed.