Ord 3662 5/6/1980 ORDINANCE NO. r/6600
ORDINANCE ADOPTING STANDARD FIRE PREVENTION
CODE, PREPARED AND PUBLISHED BY THE SOUTHERN
BUILDING CODE CONGRESS INTERNATIONAL, INC. ,
BEING PARTICULARLY THE 1979 ADDITION THEREOF,
WITH CERTAIN AMENDMENTS, CHANGES AND DELETIONS.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF
WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, THAT:
SECTION 1. There is hereby adopted by the Board of Aldermen
as the Fire Prevention Code for the City of Wichita Falls, for
the purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions
hazardous to life and property from fire and explosion, that
certain code known as "Standard Fire Prevention Code" prepared
and published by the Southern Building Code Congress Interna-
tional, Inc. , being particularly the 1979 addition thereof,
with that amendment thereto designated as the 1980 Revision,
of which code a copy is on file in the office of the City Clerk,
and the same is hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if
set out at length herein, subject to the changes and deletions
herein set out; the provisions thereof shall be controlling
within the corporate limits of the City.
SECTION 2. The following changes and deletions are hereby
made in the Southern Fire Prevention Code, as adopted in
Section 1.
A. Amend Section 1 .04 by adding to the end of such
section the following sentence:
"Whenever the term 'Fire Official' is used in this Code,
it shall mean the City Fire Marshal. "
B. Amend Section 1.05 to read as follows:
"This Code shall be enforced by the Fire Prevention
Bureau, which is hereby established as a division of the Fire
Department, and by such members of the Fire Department as are
designated from time to time by the Fire Chief. The Fire Pre-
vention Bureau shall be under the direction of the Fire Official. "
C. Amend Subsection (a) of Section 1.10 to read as follows:
"a. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of
this Code, or fail to comply,_. therewith, or who shall violate
or fail to comply with any order made thereunder, or who shall
build in violation of any detailed statement of specifications
or plans submitted and approved thereunder, or any certificate
or permit issued thereunder, shall severally for each and every
such violation and noncompliance respectively be guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than $5. 00 nor
more than $200. The imposition of one penalty for any violation
shall not excuse the violation nor permit it to continue, and
when not otherwise specified by the Fire Official or his
representative, each period of ten consecutive days that pro-
hibited conditions are maintained shall constitute a separate
offense. The application of such penalty shall not be held to
prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions. "
D. Amend the title to Chapter 2 to read, "VARIANCES AND
APPEALS" .
E. Amend Section 2. 01 to read as follows:
"The Fire Official shall have power to vary any of the
provisions of this Code, upon application in writing by the
owner or lessee, or his duly authorized agent, when there are
practical difficulties in the way of carrying out the strict
letter of the Code, provided that the spirit of the Code shall
be observed, public safety secured, and substantial justice
done. The particulars of such variance when granted or allowed
and decision of the Fire Official thereon shall be entered upon
the records of the Bureau and a signed copy shall be furnished
to the applicant. "
F. Amend Section 2. 02 to read as follows:
"Whenever the Fire Official shall disapprove an application
or refuse to grant a license or permit applied for, or when it
is claimed that the provisions of this Code do not apply or
that the true intent and meaning of the Code have been miscon-
strued or wrongly interpreted, the owner or his duly authorized
-2-
agent may appeal the decision of the Fire Official to the Board
of Aldermen; such appeal shall be in writing and filed with
the City Clerk within fifteen days from the date of the Fire
Official ' s decision. If the decision of the Board of Aldermen
reverses or modifies the decision of the Fire Official, or varies
the application of any provision of this Code, the Fire Official
shall immediately take action in accordance with such decision. "
G. Section 2. 03 is hereby deleted.
H. Amend Section 5. 02 by adding the following definition:
"Fire Authority--means Fire Chief. "
SECTION 3. Section 15-102 of the Code of Ordinances is
hereby amended to read as follows :
"The Fire Marshal, when in his opinion further investigation
of that required by Section 1.11 of the Fire Prevention Code is
necessary, shall take or cause to be taken the testimony, on
oath, of all persons supposed to be cognizant of any facts or
to have means of knowledge in relation to the matter under
investigation, and shall cause the same to be reduced to writing. "
SECTION 4 . The following sections of the Code of Ordinances
of the City of Wichita Falls are hereby repealed: Section 15-2,
Section 15-3, Sections 15-15 through 15".2Q, Sections 15-31
through 15-38, Sections 15-48 through 15-86, Sections 15-98
through 15-101, Section 15-107, Section 15-108, Section 15-110
and Section 15-111. 4
PASSED AND APPROVED this the il�
1 day of May, 1980.
'M A Y O R
ATTEST:
City Clerk