Sec. 7-313e. Authority of fire officer during emergency.
Sec. 7-313e. Authority of fire officer during emergency. Notwithstanding any
provision in the general statutes or a municipal ordinance to the contrary, the fire chief
of the municipality, or any member serving in the capacity of fire officer-in-charge,
shall, when any fire department or company is responding to or operating at a fire,
service call, or other emergency, within such municipality, have the authority to: (a)
Control and direct emergency activities at such scene; (b) order any person to leave any
building or place in the vicinity of such fire for the purpose of protecting such person
from injury; (c) blockade any public highway, street, or private right-of-way temporarily
while at such scene; (d) at any time of the day or night, enter any building, including a
private dwelling, or upon any premises where a fire is in progress or near the scene of
any fire, or where there is reasonable cause to believe a fire is in progress, for the purpose
of extinguishing the fire or preventing its spread; (e) inspect for the purposes of preventing fires and preplanning the control of fire all buildings, structures or other places
in their fire district, except the interior of private dwellings, where any combustible
material, including but not limited to waste paper, rags, shavings, waste, leather, rubber,
crates, boxes, barrels or rubbish, that is or may become dangerous as a fire menace to
such buildings, structures or other places has been allowed to accumulate or where
such chief or his designated representative has reason to believe that such material has
accumulated or is liable to be accumulated; (f) order disengagement or discouplement
of any convoy, caravan or train of vehicles, craft or railway cars for the purpose of
extinguishing a fire or preventing its spread; and (g) take command of any industrial
fire brigade or fire chief when such fire company or department has been called to such
industry.
(P.A. 75-599; P.A. 77-232.)
History: P.A. 77-232 clarified authority of fire officers, extending authority to time when responding to call and including
emergencies and service calls as well as fire, deleting authority to trespass without liability and adding authority to make
inspections and to order disbanding of convoys, caravans etc.
See Secs. 7-313b, 53a-167a, 53a-167b.
Cited. 24 CA 598.