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Section 390 – Adoption of Fire Code

390.05. Fire Code

(a) The 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code, as adopted pursuant to the authority of Minnesota Statutes Section 299F.011, including appendix Chapter D, is hereby adopted by reference as the fire code for the City of Mound. Such code, except as hereinafter amended or modified, is incorporated in this ordinance as completely as if set out in full and includes Minnesota Rules Chapter 7510, and all amendments and changes adopted thereto. One copy of this code shall be on file in the office of the City Clerk-Treasurer.

(b) The 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code incorporates the 2000 edition of the International Fire Code as promulgated by the International Code Council, Inc. (Falls Church, Virginia, December 1999) and made part of Minnesota Rules.

(c) This ordinance is adopted for the purpose of regulating and governing the safeguarding of life and property from fire and explosion hazards arising from the storage, handling and use of hazardous substances, materials and devices, and from conditions hazardous to life or property in the occupancy of buildings and premises in the City of Mound and providing for the issuance of permits for hazardous uses or operations.

(d) If there is a conflict between or among any of the provisions or policies of the stated codes, standards or policies, the following orders of precedence shall apply:

1. City of Mound Fire Prevention Code.

2. Minnesota State Fire Code.

3. Standards of the National Fire Protection Association or other nationally recognized fire-safety standards as are approved by the Fire Chief.

390.10. Definitions.

City – City of Mound

CODE OFFICIAL – The fire chief, fire marshal, code enforcement officer, or other designated authority charged by the Mound City Council or the Minnesota State Building Code with the duties of administration and enforcement of this code, or a duly authorized representative. For purposes of enforcing this code it also includes the state fire marshal and the state fire marshal representatives.

THIS CODE – The code adopted pursuant to this ordinance.

FIRE CHIEF – The fire chief of the Mound Fire Department.

BOARD OF APPEALS – The Mound City Council.

JURISDICTION – Municipal limits of the City of Mound.

390.15. Penalties

(a) Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this code or standards hereby adopted or fails to comply therewith, or who shall violate or fail to comply with any order made thereunder, or who shall fail to comply with such an order as affirmed or modified by the city council or by a court of competent jurisdiction, within the time fixed herein or therein, 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 and from which no appeal has been taken, shall be guilty of an offense punishable as a misdemeanor for each and every such violation and non-compliance respectively.

(b) Notice of violations shall be given in writing and shall contain a reasonable time to comply as well as a statement explaining the right to appeal.

(c) The imposition of one penalty for any violation shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue; and all such persons shall be required to correct or remedy such violations or defects within a reasonable time; and when not otherwise specified, each day that prohibited conditions are maintained shall constitute a separate offense.

(d) The application of the above penalties shall not be held to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.

390.20. Enforcement.

The fire chief, the code official or their representatives or other authority designated by the city is authorized to administer and enforce the provisions of this code.

390.25 Recreational Fires. No person shall, commence, conduct or allow any recreational fire in violation of the conditions described below.

The regulations contained in this Section and the permit requirement in Subsection 390.27 are not applicable for fires contained in a charcoal grill, camp stove, or other similar device.

Subd. 1. Definitions. For purposes of this Section the following definitions shall apply.

(a) "Attendant" is the same as a competent, unimpaired adult.

(b) "Burner" means a firebox, a barrel or similar container used for an outdoor fire, but not including grills or barbecues used principally for the cooking of food.

(c) "Competent, Unimpaired Adult" means a person over eighteen (18) years of age who is not under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, who shall be the responsible party for directly supervising an open burn and who shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with this Section.

(d) "Fire Chief" means the appointed Fire Chief or any individual designated by the Fire Chief to perform specific duties.

(e) "Recreational Fire" means a fire set for cooking or warming or other recreational purposes which is not more than three (3) feet in diameter and three (3) feet in flame height, and has a non-combustible separation between the fire area and adjoining combustible material such as bricks or stones and has had the ground five (5) feet from the base of the fire cleared of all combustible material.

(f) "Starter Fuels" means dry, untreated, unpainted wood or charcoal fire starter. Paraffin candles, commercially available products for use in starting charcoal grills and alcohols are permitted as starter fuels and as aides to ignition only. Propane gas torches or other clean burning devices causing minimal pollution may be used to start up an open fire. Starter fuels do not include gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, and hearing oil.

(g) "Wood" means dry, clean fuel only such as twigs, branches, limbs, "Presto-logs", "duraflame logs", charcoal, cord wood, and untreated dimensional lumber, including clean pallets. "Fuel" does not include wood that is green; leaves or needles; grass clippings; garden waste; wood that is rotten, oil soaked or treated with paint, glue or preservative; plywood, particle board, chip board, finished paneling, or painted, treated, or stained cardboard or paper.

Subd. 2. General Requirements. The following general requirements shall apply to all recreational fires:

(a) The fire shall be attended by a competent, unimpaired adult at all times that smoke is produced from the fire.

(b) Equipment to control and extinguish the fire shall be immediately available to the attendant at the site of the fire at all times during burning. This may include, hand tools, hose lines, and water buckets.

(d) Only Wood, as defined in Subd. 1(g) of this Section and starter Fuels as defined in Subd. 1(f) may be burned in a recreational fire.

(e) The fire may not be started or continued in situations where prevailing winds or other factors create an unsafe condition or direct smoke toward other nearby residences.

(f) The fire shall be located a safe distance from any structure or combustible material.

(g) Recreational fires may be conducted at any time of the day or night.

Subd. 3. Recreational fires shall not be allowed, if any of the following conditions exist:

(a) A fire hazard exists or develops during the course of the burn.

(b) Pollution or nuisance conditions develop during the course of the burn.

(d) The fire is allowed to smolder with no flame visible and is unattended.

(e) Any of the conditions of this Section are violated during the course of the burn.

390.27 Burning Restrictions ‑ Burning Permit Required.

Subd. 1. Open Burning Prohibited. In addition to the requirement contained in Subsection 390.25, it shall be unlawful for any person to start or allow to burn any open fire, except a recreational fire on any private property within the City of Mound without a permit issued under this Section. No permit shall be required of any official fire set by any public official as provided in Subsection 490.20.

Subd. 2. (Reserved)

Subd. 3. Rules Adopted by Reference. Minn. Rules pts 7005.0705 to 7005.0805, of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency are hereby adopted by reference and made a part of this Code as if fully set forth herein.

Subd. 4. Person Designated to Issue Permits. The Fire Chief is hereby authorized to issue permits under this Subsection 390.27, and may establish reasonable permit conditions for open burning consistent with the rules adopted herein. The signature of the Fire Chief is necessary for a permit to be issued. The applicant shall pay a permit fee as established in accordance with the provisions of Section 500 of the City Code.

390.30. Negligent Fires

Section 104.10 of the 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code is hereby amended by adding a new Section 104.10.2 to read as follows:

It shall be an offense punishable as a misdemeanor to negligently or carelessly start or cause to be started a fire which endangers the property of another or to negligently or carelessly allow a fire to extend beyond the limits of one’s property or property within one’s control. The term “property” shall include real and personal property.

390.35. Permits.

Section 105 of the 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code pertaining to permits is hereby amended by adding the following provisions:

(a) Permit required. No person shall engage in any activity, operation, practice or function listed below without first having obtained a permit from the code official, fire chief or his/her representative:

(1) Installation, modification, changing configuration and/or removal of any fire protection systems.

(2) Installation and removal of underground or aboveground tanks for the storage or use of flammable or combustible liquids, or gas or any hazardous material.

(3) Spray booths or spray areas involving spraying or dipping operations utilizing flammable or combustible liquids. Spray booths involving the application of powders by powder spray guns, electrostatic powder spray guns, fluidized beds, or electrostatic fluidized beds.

(4) Refinishing and resurfacing operations utilizing flammable and combustible liquids.

(5) Tents, canopies, and temporary membrane structures. A permit is required for the public use or the use in public areas of tents and membrane structures having an area over 400 square feet, and canopies in excess of 600 square feet, or when heat sources, cooking equipment, spark/ember producing processes or open flame are contained within or near the tent, canopy, or structure.

(6) Carnivals, fairs, and other special events open to the public.

(7) Smoke removal systems as required by the fire code.

(8) Storage of explosives, black powder, and blasting agents.

(9) An application for the use of explosives shall require a permit initially made at the city’s designated police services. Exception: Police and Fire Departments are not required to apply for a permit.

(10) Sale of fireworks, fireworks displays and pyrotechnic special effects material.

(b) The fees for such permits shall be in an amount established by the city council by resolution or ordinance.

390.40. Appeals.

Section 108 of the 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code is hereby deleted in its entirety and is replaced to read as follows:

(a) Whenever the code official shall disapprove or refuse to grant a permit, or issue an order or notice as provided in the Minnesota State Fire Code, or when it is claimed that the Minnesota State Fire Code has been wrongly applied or interpreted, the aggrieved person may appeal the decision of the code official as provided in this section.

(b) The aggrieved person must first request the code official to reconsider his decision. The request to reconsider must be made within ten (10) days from the date of the code official’s initial decision and must submit in writing the reasons for the request for reconsideration.

(c) A person aggrieved by the final decision of the code official may appeal the decision to the Board of Appeals. The appeal must be in writing and made within ten (10) days of the date of the final decision of the code official.

(d) A person aggrieved by the decision of the Board of Appeals may appeal to the State Fire Marshal in accordance with Minnesota Statutes Section 299F.011, Subdivision 5.

(e) All requests and appeals specified in this section shall be made in writing. An aggrieved party who does not appeal within the time limits specified shall be deemed to have waived his right to appeal and shall be bound by the latest decision in the appeal process.

390.50. Premises Identification.

Section 505.1 of the 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code is amended to read as follows:

(a) Address numbers.

(1) New and existing buildings shall have approved address numbers, a building number, or approved building identification placed in a position to be plainly legible and visible from the street or road fronting the property. These numbers shall contrast with their background. Address numbers shall be Arabic numerals or alphabet letters. Numbers shall be a minimum of 4 inches high with a minimum stroke width of ½ inch.

(2) Buildings which have a range of addresses for one building shall display the range of numbers or addresses from the lowest to the highest.

(3) Buildings with multiple tenants/addresses shall place approved numbers or addresses on front and rear doors identifying each address in the manner required in this section.

(4) Dwellings that are remote/auxiliary from the main dwelling shall display approved numbers or addresses on each dwelling in the manner required in this section and in such a manner as to be visible from either direction of travel on the road or street fronting the property.

(5) If any dwelling, business or building as required, is too remote from the fronting road or street to make it unreasonable to be seen from the fronting road or street, a sign or post with visible and legible approved numbers or addresses, or range of numbers or addresses from lowest to highest, shall be placed at the driveway entrance in such a manner that the numbers or addresses are visible from either direction of travel on said road or street.

(6) Addressing of residential and commercial properties that do not fall under the provisions of subsection 5 above, and as such, are visible from the roadway they are fronting shall conform to the following:

Building Setback Minimum Address Size

0 feet to 40 feet 4 inches minimum height

41 feet to 60 feet 6 inches minimum height

61 feet or greater 8 inches minimum height

(7) Approved numbers of addresses shall be placed on all construction sites in such a position as to be plainly visible and legible from the street or road fronting the property.

(b) Street or Road Signs.

(1) Streets and roads, both public and private shall be identified with approved signs. Temporary signs shall be installed at each street intersection when construction of new roadways allows passage by vehicles. Signs shall be of an approved size, weather resistant and be maintained until replaced be permanent signs.

390.55. Fire Hydrants

Section 508.5.1 of the 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

Where a portion of the facility or building hereafter constructed or moved into or within the jurisdiction is more than 150 feet from a hydrant on a fire apparatus road, as measured by an approved route around the exterior of the facility or building, on site fire hydrants and mains shall be provided where required by the code official.

(a) For buildings equipped throughout with an approved fire sprinkler system installed in accordance with NFPA 13 or NFPA 13R, the distance requirement shall be one fire hydrant within 100 feet of the fire department connection and 600 feet for all other fire hydrants, unless otherwise approved by the Fire Chief or Code Official.

(b) In buildings with high piled combustible storage or buildings that are inherently hazardous in nature because of hazardous processes or which store, use, or handle flammable, combustible or hazardous materials, additional fire hydrants may be required by the code official.

Exceptions:

(1) For Group R-3 and Group U occupancies, the hydrant distance requirements shall be 300 feet.

(2) For buildings equipped throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system installed in accordance with Section 903.3.1.1 or 903.3.1.2, the hydrant distance requirement shall be 600 feet.

390.60. Hydrants.

Section 508.5.5 of the 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

Clear space around Hydrants. A six (6) foot clear space shall be maintained around the circumference of fire hydrants except as otherwise required or approved by the code official or the fire chief. An approved accessible route to the hydrant from a public access or way shall be provided and maintained.