There is hereby adopted by the governing body of the city, for the purpose of prescribing regulations, governing conditions hazardous to life and property from fire or explosion, that certain code and standards known as the International Fire Code, edition of 2009, including all the Appendix chapters, published by the International Code Council, one copy shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the City of Belle Plaine, Kansas, and the same are hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and from the date on which this ordinance shall take effect, the provisions thereof shall be controlling within the limits of the city.
(Code 2011)
The code hereby adopted shall be enforced by the Police Chief and/or Sumner County Fire District #9 Fire Chief.
(Code 2011)
(a) Wherever the word municipality is used in the code hereby adopted, it shall be held to mean the City of Belle Plaine.
(b) All sections of the Uniform Fire Code relating to fireworks are hereby deleted in their entirety.
(Code 1998)
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct any open burning operation within the city without having obtained a written permit from the Police Chief or his designee to conduct the operation as herein provided.
(b) Open burning operation shall mean the burning of any materials wherein contaminants resulting from combustion are emitted directly into the ambient air without passing through a stack or chimney from an enclosed chamber. Open fires must be contained within a fire containment ring not exceeding 5’ in diameter, placed at least 50’ from any structure or building. The fire containment ring must be constructed of metal or stone at least 8” tall. If winds are less than 5 mph or exceed 15 mph, burning is prohibited. The Police Chief, his designee, or city council may make exceptions to these requirements.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct any open burning in multiple 5’ containment rings, if the rings are within 25’ of each other.
(d) Only yard waste (debris) can be burned during an open burn. Yard waste (debris) includes leaves, grass clippings, tree branches, tree limbs and portions of trees. All debris must be able to fit inside the designated 5’ fire containment ring prior to the open burn.
(e) Necessary precautions are expected to be taken, including a water source to aid in fire control. The fire shall always be tended until completely extinguished. The holder of the permit assumes all responsibility for any damage due to the permitted open burn.
(f) City residents may apply for an annual (calendar year) burn permit through the Police Department. An inspection of the burn containment ring shall be performed prior to the issuance of an annual permit.
(g) Sumner County 911 shall be notified of any open burn, regardless if a person holds a daily permit or an annual permit. The notification shall be given prior to the burn being conducted. Information to be given to the dispatcher will include name, address, and what will be burned.
(h) No burn permit shall be required for recreational fire pits, including metal fire pits, chimineas and brick rings less than 5’ wide.
(i) A Notice to Appear (NTA) can be issued for any violation or non-compliance of the Open Burn City Code and a fine of $75 plus court costs may be imposed.
(Code 2011; Ord. 1671)
It shall be unlawful for any person to allow to accumulate or to keep in any part of any building or outside of and adjacent to any building or in any alley, sidewalk, street or premises within 30 feet of any building any rubbish, trash, waste paper, excelsior, empty boxes, barrels or other combustibles which shall constitute a fire hazard.
(Ord. 352; Code 1998)
It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit, stack or store any hay or straw within 500 feet of any building located inside the fire limits of the city unless approved by the Police Chief and/or Sumner County Fire District #9 Fire Chief.
(Ord. 352; Code 2011)
It shall be unlawful to keep excelsior or other packing material in any other than metal or wood metal line boxes or bins having self-closing or automatic covers. All refuse and trash from rooms where packing or unpacking is done shall be removed daily.
(Ord. 352; Code 1998)
It shall be unlawful to store ashes inside of any non-fireproof building unless they are stored in a noncombustible container or receptacle, and a clearance of at least five feet shall be maintained between such container or receptacle and any combustible materials not placed therein. Ashes shall not be stored outside of any building in wooden, plastic, or paper product receptacles or dumped in contact with or in close proximity to any combustible materials.
(Ord. 352; Code 1998)
The engines of motor vehicles shall be stopped when the gasoline tanks of such vehicles are being filled with gasoline at service stations or other places where gasoline is supplied to motor vehicles. The driver or person in control of such vehicle when the gasoline tank of same is being filled who refuses, neglects or fails to stop the engine of such vehicle shall likewise be guilty of a violation of this code.
(Code 1998)
It is unlawful for any person to cause or create anywhere within the city, or to permit on any premises under his or her control, any situation or condition that is conducive to or likely to cause or permit the outbreak of fire or the spreading of fire. Any situation or condition conducive to the outbreak of or spreading of fire, is declared to be a fire hazard. The violation of or failure to comply with any law pertaining to the storage, handling or use of inflammable oils, explosives, liquefied petroleum gases, or fertilizers and all wires and other conductors charged with electricity, is declared to be a fire hazard. The placing of stools, chairs or any other obstruction in the aisles, hallways, doorway, or exit of any theater, public hall, auditorium, church or other place of indoor public assemblage, or the failure to provide any such place of public assemblage with sufficient, accessible and unobstructed fire exits and escapes is also declared to be a fire hazard. The obstruction of any street, avenue, alley, fire hydrant or any other condition that might delay the fire department in fighting fire is declared to be unlawful.
(Code 1998)
It shall be the duty of the Police Chief and/or Sumner County Fire District #9 Fire Chief to inspect or cause to be inspected by fire department officers or members, as often as may be necessary all buildings, particularly all mercantile buildings, manufacturing plants, warehouses, garages, hotels, boarding houses, rooming houses, theaters, auditoriums and all places of public assemblage, for the purpose of discovering the violation of any fire preventive law or any fire hazard and ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fires and to see that all places of public assemblage, hotels and rooming houses have sufficient and unobstructed facilities for escape therefrom in case of fire.
(Ord. 352; Code 2011)
Whenever any officer or member of the fire department shall find or discover any fire hazard or shall find in any building or upon any premises combustible or explosive material or dangerous accumulation of rubbish or unnecessary accumulation of paper, boxes, shavings or any other inflammable material, so situated as to endanger property by the probability of fire, or shall find or discover any violation of this chapter or any other law hazardous to public safety from fires, the Police Chief and/or Sumner County Fire District #9 Fire Chief shall order the fire hazard or danger from the fire forthwith abated and remedied and such order shall be complied with immediately by the owner or occupant of such buildings or premises. If the hazard or condition ordered abated and remedied is a violation of, or a failure to comply with any law, the Police Chief and/or Sumner County Fire District #9 Fire Chief shall report the matter to the city attorney and he or she shall, if he or she deems it advisable, prosecute the offender.
(Ord. 352; Code 2011)
Any order made under section 7-212 shall be in writing and may be served personally upon the owner or occupant of the premises or by leaving it with any person in charge of the premises or if the premises are unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident of the city, then by mailing a copy to the owner’s last known post-office address. One notice to either the occupant or owner shall be sufficient. The Police Chief and/or Sumner County Fire District #9 Fire Chief shall keep a record of and copies of all such orders and notices and shall follow up such notices at the expiration of the time for compliance therewith and when complied with make proper entry, and if not complied with, file complaint with the municipal court against the property owner and/or occupant.
(Ord. 352; Code 2011)