Sierra Madre Municipal Code Ch. 8.28 Protected Fire Areas

The unrestricted use of grass, grain, brush or forest covered land, and the failure to control fire hazards is a potential menace to life and property from fire and resulting erosion. It is therefore the intent of this chapter to provide and encourage adequate fire protection facilities to control the spread of fire which might be caused by recreational, residential, commercial, industrial, or other activities through established protected fire areas. In general, such protected fire areas will be located north of a southern boundary to be established by the city council, as set forth in this chapter.

(Prior code § 4201)

Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings indicated in this section.

"Chaparral" means natural, uncultivated vegetative cover, substantially akin to that of the wildland watersheds of the Angeles National Forest.

"Chief" means the chief of the fire department or his/her authorized representatives.

"Fireworks" means any article or substance or combination of substances prepared for the purpose of producing a visible or audible effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration, or detonation; such as fire sparklers, torpedoes, skyrockets, roman candles, blank cartridges, caps and similar items.

"Habitation" means the residence and surrounding cultivated and improved recreational areas.

"Person" means any individual, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, political subdivision, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular number.

"Protected fire area" means any land which is covered with grass, grain, brush, or forest, or land which is of such inaccessible location whether privately or publicly owned, and is so situated that a fire originating on such land would present an abnormally difficult task of suppression or would result in great and unusual damage through fire or resulting erosion. "Protected fire area" shall be designated by the city clerk on a map and said map shall be on file in the office of the city clerk.

"Specimen trees" and "ornamental shrubs" means those trees and shrubs that are so located or so constituted by reason of type or growth as to be ornamental or decorative in purpose.

"Structure" means that which is constructed, an edifice, or building of any kind, or as defined by the building code.

"Tracer" means any bullet or projectile incorporating a feature which marks or traces the flight of said bullet or projectile by flare, smoke, or any other means which results in fire or heat.

"Tracer charge" means any bullet or projectile incorporating a feature designed to create a visible or audible effect by any means which results in fire or heat, and shall include any incendiary bullet or projectile.

(Prior code § 4202)

(Ord. No. 1435, § 3, 10-27-20)

A. Upon written recommendation of the fire commission or upon its own initiation therefor, the city council shall cause such recommendations or initiation set for public hearing not sooner than twelve nor more than thirty days thereafter, and shall forthwith cause a notice of such hearing to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation. Such notice shall contain information relating to the recommendation or initiation, the date, hour and place of hearing, the areas involved. A copy of such notice shall also be mailed by the city clerk to each residence actually occupied as a home within the proposed area, and to each known property owner thereof, but failure of any person to receive such notice shall not invalidate such hearing if the city clerk acted in good faith with respect thereto.

B. If after conducting a public hearing thereon, the city council finds that all or part of the area involved in the hearing is so situated or is so composed as to constitute a protected fire area, then the city council may by resolution designate such areas as a protected fire area, upon further finding that the particular regulations set forth herein for control of such areas are necessary to lessen the fire hazards thereof.

C. If the fire chief determines an area to be an extreme and immediate emergency area, then he may forthwith declare such area to be a protected fire area without waiting for the approval of the city council, provided, however, that no such declaration by the fire chief shall continue (1) for more than thirty days without confirmation by the city council after such hearing; or (2) after the fire commission shall have overruled the fire chief thereon, prior to such council action.

(Prior code § 4203)

Particular publicly or privately owned properties may be excluded from protected fire area by a similar procedure as set forth in Section 8.28.030.

(Prior code § 4204)

A. Publicly or privately owned property within said protected fire areas may be closed to all persons except the owner or his duly appointed and authorized representative, employees or permittees and shall be so posted if (1) such property is located above the one thousand three hundred foot contour U.S.G.S. Datum, which approximately passes through the base of the city's high level water storage tanks; (2) such publicly or privately owned property, predominantly covered by chaparral located below said contour is unattended or abandoned.

B. After any area located in a protected fire area has been declared by the city council to be a closed fire area such area shall be posted by the city with substantial signs indicating the fire closure procedures, exempting permittees.

C. At least one such sign shall be posted at or near the point of entry into the closed fire area of each public street, public road, public trail and public easement if such street, road, trail, or easement is to be closed to public use. Otherwise, at least one such sign shall be posted not less often than every one thousand feet along any public street, public road, public trail and public easement entering, traversing, or delineating the boundaries of the closed fire area and at such other locations which in the opinion of the chief would best serve to notify the public of such closed fire area.

D. Failure to post one or more of such signs or removal or absence of the same after posting, shall not affect the enforcement of such fire closure provided that a sufficient number of such signs are in place to reasonably serve notice of such fire closure.

(Prior code § 4205)

The regulations for fire protected areas set forth in this chapter shall be in effect in every protected fire area and it shall be unlawful for any person to violate any of the same.

(Prior code § 4206)

No person shall use or operate in, upon, or within two hundred feet of any protected fire area, any tractor, construction equipment, engine machinery, or any steam, oil, or gasoline operated stationary or mobile equipment, from which a spark or fire may originate unless such equipment is provided with a qualified device or spark arrester installed in or attached to the exhaust pipe which will prevent the escape of fire or sparks. Compliance by said device or spark arrester with the USDA Forest Service Standards for Spark Arresters on Internal Combustion Engines, No. 5100-1 dated December, 1966, and all amendments thereto shall be prima facie evidence of qualification. For the purpose of this section any registered motor vehicle operated on a roadway or highway and which is equipped with a muffler in good condition, as required by the Vehicle Code, shall be deemed to be in compliance with this section.

(Prior code § 4207)

A. No person shall fire or cause to be fired any tracer bullet or tracer charge into or across any protected fire area, nor shall he have in his possession any tracer bullet or tracer charge on such area.

B. No person shall use, fire, or project into or across any protected fire area any rocket, model plane, glider, or balloon powered with an engine, propellant, or other features liable to start or cause fire in said area.

(Prior code § 4208)

No person shall use any lighted or smoldering material in connection with smoking bees in or upon any protected fire area except by the authority of a written permit from the chief.

(Prior code § 4209)

No person shall operate or use any flame employing device such as a lantern or kerosene road flare as a signal or marker in or upon any protected fire area. This section shall not apply to or restrict the proper use of fuses at the scene of emergencies.

(Prior code § 4210)

A. No person shall build, ignite, or maintain any outdoor fires of any kind or character, or for any purpose whatsoever, in or upon any protected fire area, except by the authority of a written permit from the chief. No permit will be required for outdoor fires within inhabited premises or designated camp sites where such fires are built in a permanent barbecue, portable barbecue, outdoor fireplace, incinerator, or grill for the preparation of food, and are so located within a cleared area as to safeguard public safety and property, and that all fuels used are of a type which does not emit sparks or flying embers. Such a permit shall incorporate such terms and conditions which will reasonably safeguard public safety and property. Regardless of a permit, however, no person shall build, ignite or maintain any outdoor fire in a barbecue or otherwise in or upon any protected fire area under the following conditions:

1. When any high wind is blowing; or

2. When there is no person aged seventeen or over present at all times to watch and capable of tending such fire.

B. No person shall use any permanent barbecue, portable barbecue, outdoor fireplace, or grill for the disposal of rubbish, trash or combustible waste material.

(Prior code § 4211)

A. No person shall build or install any permanent outdoor fireplace, barbecue, or grill in any protected fire area without first securing a written permit from the chief.

B. Every outdoor fireplace, permanent barbecue, or grill shall be maintained in good repair and in a safe condition at all times. All openings in any such appliance shall be provided with an approved spark arrester screen, or door.

(Prior code § 4212)

The chief may, upon thirty-day written notice by registered letter, require property owners to remove and clear within ten feet on each side of every roadway all flammable vegetation or other combustible growth, and may enter upon private property to do so. This section shall not apply to cultivated or single specimens of trees, ornamental shrubbery, or cultivated ground cover such as green grass, ivy, succulents, or similar plants used as ground covers, provided they do not form a means of readily transmitting fire. As used in this section, "roadway" means that portion of a highway or private street improved, designed, ordinarily used for vehicular travel.

(Prior code § 4213)

No person shall place, deposit, or dump any garbage cans, bottles, papers, ashes, refuse, trash, rubbish, or combustible waste material in or upon any protected fire area. No person shall dump such material in, upon, or along any trail, roadway, or highway in any protected fire area.

(Prior code § 4214)

No person shall place, deposit, or dump any hot ashes or coals in or upon any protected fire area, except in the hearth of an established fire pit, camp stove, or fireplace; or in a noncombustible container with a tight-fitting lid which is kept or maintained in a safe location not less than ten feet from any combustible vegetation or structure; or where such ashes or coals are buried and covered with one foot of mineral earth not less than twenty-five feet from any combustible vegetation or structure.

(Prior code § 4215)

A. No person, except public officers acting within the scope of their duties, shall travel upon, or drive or park any motorcycle, motor scooter, or motor vehicle upon any fire road or fire break, in any protected fire area, beyond the point where travel is restricted by cable, gate, or sign, without the permission of the property owner or owners involved. No person shall park any vehicle so as to obstruct the entrance to any fire road or fire break.

B. No person shall install or maintain a radio or television aerial, or guy wires thereto, or any other obstruction of any fire road or fire break, which is less than sixteen feet above such fire road or fire break.

(Prior code § 4216)

No person shall operate any motorcycle, motor scooter, or motor vehicle, except upon a clearly established public or private road within any protected fire area and without first having secured a permit to do so from the chief. No such permit shall be issued unless written permission from the property owner is first presented.

(Prior code § 4217)

A. No person shall tamper with, mutilate, destroy, or remove any lock, barricade, seal, cable, sign, or marker installed by or under the control of the chief in any protected fire area.

B. No person except authorized public officials in the discharge of their duties shall unlock any gate, door, barrier, or lock installed by or under the control of the chief within any protected fire area.

(Prior code § 4218)

No person shall operate or use any device, machine, or process such as a tar pot, decorative torch, or any other device liable to start or cause fire in or upon any protected fire area, except by the authority of a written permit from the chief.

(Prior code § 4219)

A. Support Clearance. Any person owning, controlling, operating or maintaining any electrical transmission line upon any protected fire area shall, at all times, maintain around and adjacent to any pole supporting a switch, fuse, transformer, lightening arrester, line junction, deadend, corner pole, towers, or other poles or towers at which power company employees are likely to work, an effective firebreak, consisting of a clearing of not less than ten feet in each direction from the outer circumference of such pole or tower. Provided, however, that this provision shall not be deemed to apply to lines used exclusively as telephone, telegraph, telephone or telegraph messenger call, fire or alarm lines, or other lines classed as communication (Class C) circuits by General Order 64-A of the Public Utilities Commission of the state of California, nor to cultivated or single specimens of trees, ornamental shrubbery, or cultivated ground cover.

B. High Tension Line Clearance. Any person owning, controlling, operating or maintaining any electrical transmission line upon any protected fire area shall maintain a clearance of the respective distances as specified in this section in all directions between all vegetation and all conductors carrying electrical current.

1. For lines operating at two thousand four hundred volts and less than sixty-eight thousand volts, four feet;

2. For lines operating at sixty-eight thousand volts, and less than one hundred ten thousand volts, six feet;

3. For lines operating at one hundred ten thousand volts and over, ten feet.

In any case, such distance shall be sufficiently great to furnish the required clearance from the particular wire or conductor at any position of such wire or conductor at any temperature of one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit or less. Forked trees, dead trees, old decadent or rotten trees, those weakened by oat faces, decay or disease, and trees leaning toward the line, which may contact the line from the side or may fall on the line, shall be felled, cut or trimmed so as to remove the hazard.

C. Self-supporting Aerial Cable. No clearing to obtain line clearance is required when self-supporting aerial cable is used except that forked trees, leaning trees, and other growth which may fall across the cable and break it shall be removed.

D. Exceptions. 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, nor shall any provision of this chapter be construed to require any person to enter upon or to damage property of another without consent of the owner thereof.

(Prior code § 4220)

A. No person, other than those hereinafter expressly exempted, shall go or be upon any closed fire area which has been posted as set forth under Section 8.28.050 except upon public roadway, inhabited areas, or established trails and camp sites which have not been closed, between the first day of May and December 31st of each year. Said December 31st date may be extended by the fire commission or city council by public announcement in a newspaper of general circulation in the city of Sierra Madre. Unattended and/or abandoned areas shall remain closed permanently. It is not the intention of this section to prohibit owners of private property or their duly appointed and authorized representatives, employees and permittees from going or being upon such lands, and such persons are to such extent excepted from the provisions of this section. This section does not apply to any entry, in the course of duty, by any police officer, or any other duly authorized public officer.

B. For the purpose of this section, a permittee shall also include the holder of a valid permit issued either by (1) the Sierra Madre Fire Department, or (2) the United States Forest Service, for the specific purpose and/or area for which issued.

(Prior code § 4222)

No person shall light, ignite, or otherwise set fire to or smoke any tobacco, cigarette, electronic cigarette, vaping product, pipe or cigar in or upon any protected fire area; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall apply to any place of habitation, or within the boundaries of any established smoking area or campsite as designated by the chief or within any residence or within the outdoor living area of any residence.

(Prior code § 4223)

(Ord. No. 1423, § 4, 1-14-20)

A. Whenever a permit is required to be obtained from the chief under this chapter, unless otherwise provided, it shall be issued upon a proper showing by the applicant of the following:

1. That he has a legitimate purpose and reason for such permit;

2. That the granting of such permit under existing conditions would not tend to increase the probability of fire or the difficulty of suppression thereof;

3. That the use for which application is made is necessary and that the applicant would suffer unreasonable hardship if such permit were not granted; and

4. That the applicant will take necessary and reasonable precautionary measures regarding such use to reduce the probability of a fire hazard.

B. Any such permit may contain such conditions as the chief deems necessary, and may be denied in whole or in part when public safety would be jeopardized by the issuance.

(Prior code § 4224)

Any person dissatisfied with any decision, action or permit of the fire chief with regard to any provision hereof may appeal such matter to the fire commission. Any person dissatisfied with the decision of the fire commission may appeal such matter to the city council within seven days. The city council may elect to treat the same as a public hearing or may render its decision upon the argument of the person so aggrieved and the fire chief. In any event, the decision of the city council thereon shall be final.

(Prior code § 4225)

A. The chief shall have the authority to deputize persons, in addition to members of his own department, with the authority to act as his authorized representative to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Deputized personnel shall be provided with adequate identification, and a record of such deputized personnel shall be maintained in the office of the city clerk. Such deputized personnel shall serve without compensation and at the pleasure of the chief. The chief may withdraw the identification and the authority of any such deputy, when in his judgment, public safety would be better served by such action.

B. 1.

Whenever any officer or employee of the city is authorized to enter any building or premises for the purpose of making an inspection to enforce any ordinance, he or she may enter such building or premises at all reasonable times to inspect the same; provided he or she shall effect entry in the manner provided in subsection (B)(2) of this section, except in emergency situations, or when consent of the person having charge or control of such building or premises has been otherwise obtained.

2. If the building or premises to be inspected is occupied, the authorized officer or employee shall first present proper credentials and demand entry; and if such building or premises is unoccupied, he or she shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other person having charge or control of the building or premises and demand entry. If consent to such entry is not given, the authorized officer or employee shall have recourse to every remedy provided by law to secure entry.

3. The ordinance codified in this subsection shall be controlling over any other ordinance or part of an ordinance on the same subject, whether heretofore or hereafter adopted, unless such ordinance or part of an ordinance provides differently by an express reference to the ordinance codified in this subsection, it shall not be violation of ordinance to refuse or fail to consent to an entry for inspection.

C. Violations hereof are deemed to be public nuisances and upon order of the city council may be abated as such.

(Ord. 1087 § 7, 1992; prior code § 4226)

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 8.28.030 and after public hearing thereon, the following area is declared a protected fire area: that certain territory described as Fire Zone No. 4 as set forth in Title 15 of this code.

The following areas are excluded therefrom:

Commencing at the intersection of the Los Angeles County Flood Control access road with Carter Avenue; thence northerly and westerly along said access road to the north boundary fence of the Bailey Canyon picnic area, as declared by Resolution No. 2326; thence easterly to Oak Crest Drive; thence southerly along Oak Crest Drive to Carter Avenue; thence westerly along Carter Avenue to the point of beginning.

(Prior code § 4227)