Ordinance 452 – Burning

This is a retyped copy of the original Ordinance to be used for reference purposes only.

To view or obtain a copy of the original document, please contact the Martinsburg Police Department.

AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOROUGH OF MARTINSBURG,

BLAIR COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, ADOPTING A FIRE PREVENTION CODE

BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED by the Borough of Martinsburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania, in Council assembled, it is hereby enacted by the Authority of the same that:

Section 1. The Council of the Borough of Martinsburg for the purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous to life and property, hereby adopts and incorporates that certain code known as the Fire Prevention Code, Abbreviated Edition, recommended by the American Insurance Association, being particularly the 1976 edition thereof and the whole thereof, with any amendments made to it by the American Insurance Association, save and except such portions as are hereinafter deleted, modified, or amended, are hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein. This Fire Prevention Code shall consist of all regulations governing hazardous conditions to life and property.

The Secretary of the Borough Council is directed to maintain at least three copies of the 1976 edition with any and all amendments relating thereto at the Borough Office, and which are to be open to inspection, at all times, by the public.

Section 2. That Article 28, Section 28.1, Bonfires and Outdoor Rubbish Fires of the said Fire Prevention Code, is hereby deleted, and instead the following provisions will govern bonfires and outdoor rubbish fires in the Borough of Martinsburg:

(a) No person shall cause, suffer or permit the open burning of any material except that this provision shall not apply to:

1. Any fire set to prevent or abate a fire hazard but only done under supervision of the Fire Marshal.
2. Any fire when set by or under the supervision of the Fire Marshal.
3. Any fire set forth the purpose of instructing personnel in fire fighting.
4. Any fire set for the prevention and control of disease and pests under supervision of the Fire Marshal.
5. Any fire set solely for recreational or ceremonial.
6. Any fire set solely for cooking food.
7. Any fire set for the burning of trash, leaves or small branches beyond fifteen (15) feet of any building or structure, and when any said trash, leaves or small branches are burned, the same shall be placed in an approved container or be under the immediate control of some person so that there shall not be any scattering of the burned material. Said burning shall only take place during the daylight hours and the burning as set forth in this paragraph shall only take place during the days from Monday through Saturday inclusive and there shall be no burning under this provision on Sunday.
8. Trash is defined, for the purpose of this Ordinance, as paper and paper products.

(b) The Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention is permitted to prohibit any or all bonfires and outdoor rubbish fires when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous.

Section 3. Enforcement. The code hereby adopted shall be enforced by an Officer to be known as the Fire Marshal, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Council.

Section 4. Defenition. Wherever the word “Municipality” is used in the code hereby adopted, it shall be held to mean the Borough of Martinsburg.

Section 5. Enforcement Provisions. Any person, partnership, corporation or any other entity who shall violate any of the provisions of the Ordinance hereby adopted or fail to comply with, or who shall violate or fail to comply with any order made thereunder, or who shall build in violation of any statement of specifications or plans submitted and approved thereunder, or any certificate or permit issued thereunder, and from which no appeal has been taken, or who shall fail to comply with such an order as affirmed or modified by the Council of the Borough of Martinsburg, or by a Court of competent jurisdiction, within the time fixed herein, shall severally, for each and every such violation and noncompliance respectfully, be guilty of a summary offense and pay a fine of not less than $25.00 nor more than $300.00 and/or imprisonment in the Blair County Jail for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. The imposition of said penalty for any violation of this Ordinance shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue, and each day that passes thereafter without remedying the violation, shall be considered a separate offense.

Section 6. Any and all Ordinances of the Borough of Martinsburg conflicting or inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance or of the code hereby adopted are hereby repealed only in such a manner as they conflict with the Ordinance.

Section 7. Validity. The Council of the Borough of Martinsburg hereby declares that, should any section, paragraph, sentence or word of this Ordinance or of the code hereby adopted be declared for any reason to be invalid, it is the intent of the Council that the remaining portions of this Ordinance, independent of the validity of the Ordinance, are to remain in full force and effect.

Section 8. Whenever the Fire Marshall shall disapprove an application or refuse to grant a permit applied for, the applicant may appeal from the decision of the Fire Marshal to the Council of the Borough of Martinsburg within thirty (30) days from the written decision of the Fire Marshal. All appeals must be in writing.

THIS ORDINANCE shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of this meeting, namely the 8th day of July, 1988, ordained and enacted this 6th day of June, 1988.

ADOPTED this 6th day of June, 1988.