Watsonville Municipal Code Art. 5 Fire Department

The Fire Department is hereby established. The functions of the Fire Department shall include the following:

(a) To protect life, property and the environment by preventing and eliminating fire hazards and by controlling and extinguishing fires;

(b) To provide basic emergency rescue services to the public;

(c) To provide basic and advanced life support for medical emergencies;

(d) To manage and control other emergency incidents under Fire Department jurisdiction;

(e) To assist and support other City Departments, allied agencies or organizations as resources allow for effective incident management, control or mitigation of natural or human-caused hazards or conditions for the benefit of public safety;

(f) To enforce the rules, laws, and ordinances relating to the prevention and extinguishing of fires and the handling of potentially dangerous combustibles and explosives, and to investigate and report to the Police Department all cases where there is reason to believe that any fire is the result of a crime or that a crime has been committed in connection therewith;

(g) To maintain in efficient operable condition those firefighting and fire prevention systems and facilities assigned to the Fire Department;

(h) To perform such other duties as the City Manager may direct, which in the City Manager’s judgment, do not interfere with the availability of personnel for emergency duty.

(§ 1, Ord. 1232-07 (CM), eff. January 1, 2008)

There shall be a Fire Chief who shall be appointed by, and be responsible to, the City Manager. The Fire Chief, subject to the approval of the City Manager, shall organize and maintain such divisions in the Fire Department as, in the Fire Chief’s judgment, the operations may require and shall be responsible for the direction and control of all functions assigned to the Fire Department.

(§ 1, Ord. 1232-07 (CM), eff. January 1, 2008)

The Rules and Regulations of the Watsonville Fire Department shall provide for a system of logical and orderly succession to command and order of precedence of all officers of the Fire Department.

(§ 1, Ord. 1232-07 (CM), eff. January 1, 2008)

The Fire Chief, or successor in command, shall have supreme authority over the territory and persons involved in any fire, explosion, building collapse, or other emergency or threatened emergency to which the Fire Department would normally respond, except as provided by State law and Sections 4-2.08 and 4-2.09 of Chapter 2 of Title 4 of this chapter if the Mayor proclaims a disaster. The Fire Chief shall have the authority and responsibility to do, or cause to be done, everything the Chief determines as necessary for the confinement and control of the situation to the end that maximum protection is afforded to life and property. During the existence of such emergency, this authority shall include control of the water system, the demolition of buildings, or parts of buildings, involved or in the path of involvement, and the use of such other City employees in such manner as the Chief sees fit to control the situation and restore the Fire Department to a satisfactory state of operational readiness.

(§ 1, Ord. 1232-07 (CM), eff. January 1, 2008)

During an emergency as set forth in this section of this article, the Fire Chief shall have the authority to employ such persons, in addition to firefighters, as may be necessary to control such emergency within the following general limits:

(a) That all available sources of trained staffing available to the City under any Mutual Aid Agreement have been exhausted or are unavailable in time to be effective;

(b) That the acceptance of the services of civilians in actual firefighting work is prohibited, but that they may be assigned such work under competent supervision as will not take them into situations of danger to themselves or to other persons working on the incident. A finding of necessity for such employment by the Fire Chief, or successor, shall be conclusive evidence thereof.

(§ 1, Ord. 1232-07 (CM), eff. January 1, 2008)