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TOWN OF BASHAW
BYLAW NO. #770 - 2015
A BYLAW OF TOWN OF BASHAW, IN THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA, FOR THE
PURPOSE OF PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF A FIRE
SERVICES DEPARTMENT(S) WITHIN BASHAW.
WHEREAS THE Municipal Government Act R.S.A 2000, Chapter M-26 and
amendments thereto provides that a council of a municipality may pass bylaws respecting
the safety, health and welfare of people and the protection of people and property and for
services provided by or on behalf of the municipality, and
AND WHEREAS Section 8 (a) of the Municipal Government Act provides for municipalities
to enact bylaws to regulate or prohibit;
AND WHEREAS Section 8 (c) of the Municipal Government Act provides for municipalities
to enact bylaws to provide a system of licences, permits or approvals;
AND WHEREAS the Alberta Fire Code 2014, as established by the Fire Technical
Council, Safety Codes Council and under the provisions of the Safety Codes Act, provide
Town of Bashaw with the authority to establish a joint Quality Management Program,
which has provided the municipalities a Quality Management Program under the guidance
and control of the Safety Codes Council and direction of the Town of Bashaw Council;
AND WHEREAS the Forest and Prairie Protection Act, R.S.A 2000, Chapter F-19, as
amended in 2013, provides for the prevention of prairie or running fires and places
responsibility for fighting and controlling fires within a municipal district or a county;
AND WHEREAS the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act provides the
guidelines for environmental contamination, Town of Bashaw Council will endeavor to
prevent or bring under control the emissions of contaminates and will inform the
Department of the Environment of infractions occurring in the municipality;
AND WHEREAS the Town of Bashaw Council wishes to establish a fire and rescue
service within the municipality to provide for efficient operation of such a service.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Town of Bashaw Council of the Province of Alberta, duly
assembled, enacts as follows:
SECTION 1 - NAME OF BYLAW
1.1
This Bylaw may be cited as the "Fire Services Bylaw".
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ENACTED as a bylaw of the Town of Bashaw Council as
follows:
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SECTION 2 - DEFINITIONS
In this bylaw,
2.1
"Act" shall mean the Municipal Government Act, R.S.A. 2000, Chapter M-26, as
amended.
2.2
"Administrator" shall mean the Chief Administrative Officer for Bashaw.
2.3
"Assistant Chief Administrative Officer" shall mean the Assistant Chief
Administrative Officer for Bashaw.
2.4
"Apparatus" means any vehicle provided with machinery, devices, equipment or
materials for emergency use, as well as any vehicles used for transporting
firefighters or supplies.
2.5
"Bylaw Enforcement Officer" shall mean:
i) A person appointed under Section 555 and 556 pursuant to the Municipal
Government Act, RSA 2000, Chapter M-26, employed or contracted by the
Town of Bashaw to enforce Town Bylaws;
ii) A community Peace Officer as defined under the Peace Officer Act, SA 2006,
Chapter P-3.5 or;
iii) A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
2.6
"Council" shall mean the Council of Bashaw;
2.7
"Councillor" shall mean an elected official of Council;
2.8
"Committee" or "Committees" shall mean any Standing or Ad Hoc Committee
established from time to time pursuant to this bylaw;
2.9
"Deputy Fire Chief" means the person appointed by the Fire Chief, pursuant to
Standard Operating Procedures;
2.10 "Emergency Incident" means a fire, a situation where a fire or an explosion is
imminent or any other situation presenting a fire or possible danger to life, property
or the environment and to which the Fire Department has responded. These
incidents include transportation accidents, hazardous materials releases or potential
releases, medical assists or any life threatening situation.
2.11 "Equipment" means any tools, contrivances, devices or materials used by the Fire
Services Department that may be applied at an emergency incident.
2.12 "Fees for Services" shall be charges or fees for services provided identified
throughout this Bylaw and in Schedule A of this Bylaw, or within the Master Rates
Bylaw.
2.13 "Fire Ban" means a declaration by the Fire Chief that a restriction has been placed
on the setting of fires.
2.14 "Fire Chief" means the person appointed by the Council as head of the Fire
Services Department administered by Town of Bashaw, with duties as described in
the Standard Operating Guidelines.
2.15 "Fire Department" means the Fire Services Department of Bashaw established in
this Bylaw and includes any person duly appointed to the Department by the Chief
and Deputy Fire Chief; performing such functions as are prescribed herein, together
with all firefighting equipment, including fire stations, established to prevent,
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extinguish, and investigate the cause of fires, to preserve life and property from
injury or destruction by fire.
2.16
"Firefighter" means a person appointed to perform the duties of a firefighter as
described in the Standard Operating Guidelines
2.17
"Occupant" shall mean any person who is found on a property, whether or not the
individual is the owner or tenant of the property and whether or not the individual
resides on the property or having the right to occupy or exercise control over the
land.
2.18
"Regional Fire Services Coordinator" means the person appointed by the Regional
Fire Services Committee pursuant to the Agreement for Collaboration between
Town of Bashaw, Villages of Bawlf, Edberg, Ferintosh, Hay Lakes, Rosalind and the
County of Camrose;
2.19
"Safety Codes Accreditation" as approved by the Safety Codes Council for Bashaw
to administer a Quality Management Program Fire Discipline for members.
2.20
"Safety Codes Officer" means a person certified by the Safety Codes Council under
the authority of the Safety Codes Act.
2.21
"Safety Codes Officer Certified" means a person certified under the Safety Codes
Act with Designation of Powers to administer the Alberta Fire Code and Safety
Codes Act.
2.22
"Standard Operating Guidelines" means the guidelines adopted by the Council
concerning Fire, Rescue and other, administrative and operational activities of the
Fire Services of Camrose County.
2.23
"Town" means Town of Bashaw.
SECTION 3 - OBJECTIVES
3.1
The objectives of Bashaw Fire Services are:
1) to provide fire protection services to the Town of Bashaw and vicinity.
2) to provide fire protection services to municipalities to whom Town of Bashaw has
entered a fire services mutual aid agreement or through service agreement;
3.2
Without in any way limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Town may undertake
such studies, research, projects or programs and enter into such contracts as may
be deemed necessary or desirable in the furtherance of its objectives and to the
economic, safety, health and environmental benefits of Town of Bashaw residents.
SECTION 4 - FEES
4.1
The Council shall establish by policy contained in this Bylaw the fees to be charged
by the Town of Bashaw for services provided and shall be entitled to levy fees
differently to separate classes of persons, corporations or entities receiving services
as specified in Schedule A, or referenced in Master Rates Bylaw.
4.2
The Council may amend any policy establishing fees at any time.
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SECTION 5 - FIRE SERVICES
5.1.1 Town of Bashaw does hereby establish the Fire Services Department(s), for the
purpose of:
preventing and extinguishing fires;
1) performing basic rescues, first responder care and control of dangerous
goods incidents to a first responder level;
2) investigating the cause and origin of fires in accordance with the Alberta Fire
Code 2014 and Quality Management Plan, as approved by the Safety
Codes Council;
3) preserving life, property and protecting the environment
4) preventing and extinguishing non-permitted ground cover fires or running at
large fires and enforcing the provisions of the Forest and Prairie Protection
Act;
5) enforcing the provisions of the Alberta Fire Code 2014 and Safety Codes
Act and its regulations;
6) carrying out prevention patrols, pre-fire planning and fire inspections in
accordance with the Accredited Safety Codes Council Quality Management
Program.
7) entering into mutual aid agreements with other municipalities, agencies or
persons to provide assistance in controlling an emergency incident subject
to approval of the Council; and
8) purchasing and operating Apparatus and Equipment for preservation of lives
and property.
SECTION 6 - RESCUE AND EXTRICATION SERVICES
6. 2
Response to emergency calls, or the dispatch of a Fire and Rescue Service by 911 for
fire, rescue, medical first response, traffic control, or other requests for assistance at
an incident; an invoice from the Town of Bashaw for services rendered, may be issued
to recover costs according to this Bylaw.
6.3
The Town of Bashaw has established and maintains response areas within the Town
of Bashaw areas for fire, rescue and extrication services.
6.4
The Town of Bashaw permits a vehicle, other than an emergency vehicle, that is
transporting a full-time fire fighter or a volunteer fire fighter to have/use a flashing
green lamp.
6.5
The use of the flashing green lamp is only to be used by volunteer fire fighters as
approved by the Fire Chief. Flashing green lamp use; is restricted to response to a fire
or other emergency, as defined within the Standard Operating Guidelines.
6.6
The Fire Chief has the authority to remove/restrict the flashing green lamp use; as they
deem necessary.
SECTION 7 - FIRE PREVENTION/INSPECTION
7.1
The Bashaw Fire Chief, and/or Regional Fire Services Coordinator may establish a fire
prevention program within the member municipalities including but not limited to:
1) preventative fire inspections of properties or structures in accordance with the Alberta
Fire Code 2014 and the Quality Management Plan approved by the Safety Codes
Council.
2) review of designs, plans, specifications and processes to ensure conformity with the
Safety Codes Act, or Alberta Fire Code 2014 or Quality Management Program as
amended from time to time,
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3) preparation of pre-fire plans
4) dissemination of fire prevention information to the general public.
SECTION 8 - INVESTIGATIONS
8.1
The Fire Safety Codes Officer and/ or delegated Certified Safety Codes Officer shall
investigate the cause and origin of every dollars loss fire within said officer's
jurisdiction, in accordance with the Quality Management Plan and requirements set
forth by the Safety Codes Act.
8.2
If the person investigating an incident as described in Sentence 8.1 has information
that indicates a fire is or may be of incendiary in origin or has resulted in loss of life,
the RCMP, Bashaw Fire Chief, Regional Fire Services Coordinator and Fire
Commissioners Office shall be advised of the incident immediately.
SECTION 9- REQUIREMENT TO REPORT
9.1 The Owner or authorized agent of any property damaged by fire which incurs a dollar
loss amount within Bashaw shall immediately report details of the fire to the fire
department(s), or Safety Codes Officer, within whose jurisdiction the property is
located.
9.2 A Fire Department(s) which responds to an incident or is made aware of a fire within
its area of jurisdiction, in which a life is lost the officer in charge, shall report the
incident to the RCMP, Bashaw Fire Chief, the Regional Fire Services Coordinator and
the Fire Commissioners Office immediately. If a person suffers injury requiring medical
attention, or in which property is damaged or destroyed, the Officer in Charge shall
report the incident to the Regional Fire Services Coordinator as soon as possible.
9.3 A person conducting the investigation or reporting the incident as described in Section
8 must be a Certified Safety Codes Officer. A completed investigation report shall be
forwarded to the Bashaw Fire Chief with an Incident Report and all relevant
information relating to the incident. A Provincial Fire Report shall be submitted to the
Fire Commissioners Office within 30 (thirty) days of incident occurrence as required by
provincial law.
9.5 The Owner or authorized agent of any property containing a dangerous good(s)
product which sustains an accidental or unplanned release of the dangerous good(s)
product shall immediately report particulars of the release to the Bashaw Fire Chief,
Regional Fire Services Coordinator and the proper authorities.
SECTION 10 - BURNING REGULATIONS
10.1 Fires may be set by the Fire Department for the purpose of training firefighters;
10.2 Fire Pit Regulations and details are located in the Fire Pit Bylaw # 728 - 2010, or
subsequently amended as applicable. In the absence of amendments/replacement
Fire Pit Bylaw existing bylaw prevails.
SECTION 11 - RECOVERY OF COSTS
11.1 Where a Fire Department(s) has taken any action whatsoever for the purpose of
extinguishing a fire or responding to an Emergency Incident within or outside the
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municipality for the purpose of preserving life or property or destruction by fire or other
incident on land or property within or outside the specified areas, including any such
action taken by the Department(s) on a false alarm, the Town may, in respect of any
costs incurred by the Department(s) in taking such action, charge any costs so
incurred by the Department(s) to the person who caused the fire or the owner or
occupant of the land or property in respect of which the action was taken.
11.2 The schedule of fees to be charged for fire, rescue, dangerous goods, false alarm
responses, fire inspections, fire investigations, occupant load determination, and other
services not identified that may be performed by the Town of Bashaw Fire Department
or the Fire Chief shall be described in Schedule A of this Bylaw.
11.3 Charges to be levied to the owner or occupant of any land, vehicle, machinery,
equipment or structure of any type within the Town with regard to the emergency
response and or other services provided are specified in Schedule A of this Bylaw.
i) the Town may take such actions to recover costs incurred providing services
described in the fee schedule specified in Schedule A of this Bylaw.
ii) Should circumstances arise that require no fire protection equipment, Town of Bashaw
reserves the right to charge the owner or occupant the actual labour charges incurred
by the Fire Department.
iii) Town of Bashaw shall establish a ceiling of $10,000 being the maximum charge that a
resident, owner or occupant of land classified as residential or farmland will be
expected to pay for fire or emergency response services.
iv) Land that is not classified as residential or farmland is exempted the maximum
$10,000 charge and will be charged all applicable costs.
v) in all situations of emergency response service or other service provided by Town Fire
Department(s) and/ or all other billable services provided by the Town according to the
fee for service policy, outstanding account(s) will be recovered
11.4 In respect of the cost or fee described in this bylaw:
i) The Town may recover such cost of fee as a debt due and owing the Town, or
ii) In the case of action taken by the Town in respect of land within the Town where
the cost or fee is not paid upon demand by the Town, then in default of payment
such cost of fee may be charged against the land as taxes due and owing in
respect of that land.
iii) Fees as described in Schedule A or Master Rates Bylaw. In the event of conflicting
information, the most date current will prevail.
SECTION 12 - ENTRY ON LAND AND PREMISES
12.1 A Bylaw Enforcement Officer may without warrant enter on any land and premises or
place, except a private dwelling house, for the purpose of discharging duties specified under
this bylaw.
SECTION 13 - OFFENCES
13.1 Any person who lights an outdoor fire when the weather conditions are conducive to a
fire running at large is guilty of an offence, and
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13.2 Any person who ignites and burns fuels that contravene the Alberta Environmental
Protection Act, is guilty of an offence, and
13.3 Any person who ignites a fire or burns during a Fire Ban which clearly specifies the
prohibition of such an ignition is guilty of an offence, and
13.4 Any person who ignites a wood burning appliance or other materials for burning
outdoors during a Total Fire Ban is guilty of an offence.
13.5 Persons who commit any of the following offences are subject to Section 14 Penalties:
1) impeding, obstructing or hindering a firefighter, or fire officer of the Fire
Department(s), or other persons assisting or acting under the direction of a Fire
Chief, Regional Fire Services Coordinator or authorized delegate in charge at
an incident;
2) damaging or destroying Fire Department(s) Apparatus or Equipment;
3) driving a vehicle over any Equipment, in particular fire hose, at an incident
without the permission of the Fire Chief or authorized delegate in charge at an
incident;
4) obstructing a firefighter from carrying out any function or activity related in any
way to fire protection;
5) falsely representing themselves as a Department member or wearing or
displaying any Department badge, cap, button, insignia or other paraphernalia
for the purpose of such false representation;
6) obstructing or otherwise interfering with access roads or streets or other
approaches to any fire alarm, fire hydrant, cistern or body of water designated
for fire-fighting purposes or any connections provided to a fire main, pipe,
standpipe, sprinkler system, cistern or other body of water designated for fire-
fighting purposes.
SECTION 14 - PENALTIES
14.1 Any person who is guilty of an offence under Section 13, or violates any of the
provisions of this Bylaw or who suffers or permits any act or thing to be done in
contravention or in violation of any of the provisions of this Bylaw, or who neglects to
do or who refrains from doing anything required to be done by the provisions of this
Bylaw, or who does any act or thing or omits any act or thing, thus violating any of the
provisions of this Bylaw, shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence under the Bylaw,
and upon conviction, is liable to a fine of not less than $200.00 and not more than
$5,000.00 plus costs. No person found guilty of an offence under this Bylaw shall be
liable to imprisonment.
SECTION 15 - SEVERABILITY
15.1 Should any Section or part of this Bylaw be found to have been improperly enacted or
ultra vires, for any reason, then such Section or part shall be regarded as being
severable from the Bylaw and the Bylaw remaining after such severance shall be
effective and enforceable as if the Section found to be improperly enacted had not
been enacted as part of this Bylaw.
SECTION 16 - MISCELLANEOUS
16.1 Schedule A attached hereto forms part of this bylaw, or as indicated in Master Rates
Bylaw as amended from time to time. Most date current amendment will apply.
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SECTION 17 - REPEAL
17.1 This bylaw repeals Bylaw # 671 - 04.
17.2 This bylaw shall take effect on the date it is passed.
READ a first time this 3rd day of December, 2015.
READ a second time this _____ day of _____________, 2015.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT for a third reading this ______ day of _____________, 2015.
READ a third time and finally passed this ______ day of _____________, 2015.
_______________________________
MAYOR
________________________________
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
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SCHEDULE A
FEES
Section in Bylaw
Fee Description
Alberta Transportation
Policy TCE-DC-
501(v3) or subsequent
version as applicable
Hourly Fire protection cost per unit
Schedule of Fees: As per Alberta Transportation Policy
Fees include all personnel involved
Fees include all consumables - such as foam, dry chemical
etc. - used within reason (determined by Fire Chief of
designate)
Response fees may apply for the following types of responses:
1. Vehicle Fires
2. Vehicle Extrication
3. Grass fires on railway right of way
4. Grass fires in ditches or median on numbered highways
5. Cancelled Calls
6. False Alarms
7. Standby for dangerous goods incidents, controlled burns, structure fires, motor
vehicle collisions.
Other Fees:
Fire Inspection(s) hourly charge
$50
Fire Investigation(s) hourly charge
$50
Occupant Load Determination
$50
Plan, Drawing, Design Review hourly charged
$50
Mileage charges as per Government Rate
Fire and/ or other report copies provided to
requesting party.
$50
Contracted Fire Investigation/ Inspection
Services
Cost Recovery + Administration Service
Charges
($50 Admin
Fee)