East Palo Alto Municipal Code Art. III Fire Prevention

A. No person shall light or burn brush, slash, fallen timber, grass or other flammable material, without first having obtained a written permit from the district fire marshal. The holder of the permit shall abide by all conditions of the permit and violation thereof shall be grounds for revocation.

B. No person shall, within any grass, brush or other area mostly covered with flammable material, except as hereafter provided, make, kindle, light, build or use any campfire, bonfire or other out-of-door fire, or burn flammable materials in any incinerator or other type of burning receptacle, without first obtaining a written permit from the district fire marshal.

C. All outdoor open fires shall be constantly attended by a competent person until such fire is extinguished.

D. The district fire marshal may prohibit any or all outdoor fires when atmospheric conditions or local circumstance make such fires hazardous.

(Prior code § 4-2.301)

A. Where conditions in or around warehouses, stores, industrial plants, institutions, schools or other places of assembly are such as to make smoking a hazard, and in open spaces where combustible materials are stored or handled, the district fire marshal may order the owner or occupant, to post "NO SMOKING" signs in each building, structure, room or place in which smoking shall be prohibited. Such signs shall be conspicuously and suitably located. The district fire marshal may designate specific areas at such locations in which smoking will be permitted.

B. No person, within the hazardous fire area of the city shall, between the first day of May and last day of November of each year, smoke a cigar, cigarette, tobacco, or any similar substance, except at designated smoking areas and occupied places of habitation.

C. The district fire marshal may, during periods of high fire danger, designate areas within the city outside hazardous fire areas where smoking will be prohibited. The district fire marshal shall post "NO SMOKING" signs at all roads and trails entering such area of fire danger and intermittently along roads and trails traversing such area.

(Prior code § 4-2.302)

Any chimney upon any cabin, house, hotel, house trailer, or other building or improvement located in any timber, grass, brush or grain-covered area shall have across the opening thereof a galvanized or copper screen spark arrester of a mesh not larger than one-half inch.

(Prior code § 4-2.303)

No person shall transport, possess, fire or discharge any bullets or ammunition of any kind containing thermite, magnesium or aluminum components. This section shall not be construed to include military, peace officers or licensed commercial carriers.

(Prior code § 4-2.304)

Every person owning, leasing or otherwise controlling improved real property, and every person owning, leasing or otherwise controlling real property adjacent to improved real property, shall maintain an effective fuel break for the protection of improvements by removing all hazardous flammable materials or growth from the ground around each improvement for a distance of not less than thirty (30) feet from its exterior circumference. The district fire marshal may require a distance of up to one hundred (100) feet to be cleared if he/she determines that the greater distance is necessary to protect improvements. Where the distance from the improvements to the property line of the parcel upon which the improvement is located is less than the distance required to be cleared, the adjacent owner or lessee shall clear an area on his property sufficient to provide the required fuel break.

(Prior code § 4-2.305)

A. Every person owning, controlling, operating or maintaining any electrical transmission line on any land covered with flammable vegetation shall maintain around any pole supporting a switch, fuse, transformer, lightning arrester, line junction, if bolted connectors are used, or corner pole, an effective firebreak, consisting of a clearing of not less than ten feet in each direction from the outer circumference of such pole. This section shall not apply to lines used exclusively as telephone, telegraph or telegraph messenger call, fire or alarm lines, or other lines classed as communication circuits by the California Public Utilities Commission.

B. Every person owning, controlling, operating or maintaining any electrical transmission line in any hazardous fire area shall maintain the following clearances in all directions between vegetation and conductors carrying electrical current:

1. For lines operating at two thousand four hundred (2,400) volts and less than seventy-two thousand (72,000) volts: four feet;

2. For lines operating at seventy-two thousand (72,000) volts and less than one hundred ten thousand (110,000) volts: six feet;

3. For lines operating at one hundred ten thousand (110,000) volts and over: ten feet.

Trees that are dead, decadent, rotten, weakened by catfaces, decay or disease, and trees that are forked or leaning toward the lines, which may contact the line from the side or may fall on the line, shall be cut or trimmed so as to remove the fire hazard.

C. No clearance is required under this section when self-supporting aerial cable is used except that forked trees and growth that may fall across the cable and break it shall be moved.

D. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require any person to maintain any clearing on land where such person does not have the legal right to maintain such clearing.

(Prior code § 4-2.306)

No person shall throw or drop any lighted match, cigar, cigarette or other burning substance, into combustible material or in close proximity thereto.

(Prior code § 4-2.307)

No person shall deposit hot ashes, cinders, smoldering coals, or greasy or oily substances subject to spontaneous ignition, into any nonmetal uncovered receptacle, nor place the same within ten feet of combustible materials. Such receptacles, unless resting on a noncombustible floor or on the ground outside the buildings, shall be placed on noncombustible stands and in every case shall be kept at least two feet away from any combustible wall, partition or exterior window opening.

(Prior code § 4-2.308)

Every outdoor fireplace or permanent barbecue or grill shall be maintained in good repair and in a safe condition at all times. Any such appliance shall have a door or spark arrester screen covering each of its openings.

(Prior code § 4-2.309)

A. No person shall transport, or permit to be transported over any highway, road or street, any asphalt kettle beneath which is maintained any open fire, heated coals or ashes.

B. Asphalt kettles shall not be used inside of, or on the roof of, any building. There shall be one or more approved fire extinguishers with a total extinguishing capacity equal to a 20-BC classification extinguisher within thirty (30) feet of each asphalt kettle during the period such kettle is in use, and one additional 20-BC classification fire extinguisher on the roof of the building being covered.

(Prior code § 4-2.310)

Every outside window, on a building used for manufacturing purposes or for storage, which opens directly on any hoistway or other vertical means of communication between two or more floors in such buildings, shall be plainly marked with the word "SHAFTWAY" in red letters at least six inches high on a white background, which warning sign shall be so placed as to be easily discernible from the outside of the building. Every door or window opening on such shaftway from the interior of the building, unless the construction of the partition surrounding the shaftway is of such distinctive nature as to make its purpose evident at a glance, shall be similarly marked with the warning word "SHAFTWAY" so placed as to be easily visible to anyone approaching the shaftway from the interior of the building.

(Prior code § 4-2.311)

Any person using a torch or other flame-producing device for removing paint from any building or structure shall provide an approved fire extinguisher or water hose equipped with a suitable nozzle, sufficient in length to reach all portions of the building and connected to the water supply on the premises where such burning is done.

(Prior code § 4-2.312)

No person shall use any open flame device for maintenance or repair on any boat, slip or wharf without first obtaining a permit from the district fire marshal.

(Prior code § 4-2.313)

Upon vacating or abandoning any premises, the occupant thereof shall remove combustible waste material which has accumulated therein.

(Prior code § 4-2.314)

Every person owning or controlling any vacant building shall remove therefrom all accumulations of combustible waste material or rubbish and shall secure all doors and windows.

(Prior code § 4-2.315)

Every building or portion of a building shall be maintained free from any condition that would create a fire hazard or a condition which would add to or contribute to the rapid spread of fire.

(Prior code § 4-2.316)