General Assembly Raised Bill No. 999
January Session, 2011 LCO No. 3499
*03499_______PS_*
Referred to Committee on Public Safety and Security
Introduced by:
(PS)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 999
January Session, 2011
LCO No. 3499
*03499_______PS_*
Referred to Committee on Public Safety and Security
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 29-310 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):
(a) The Commissioner of Public Safety as State Fire Marshal shall thoroughly investigate the cause, circumstances and origin of all fires or explosions to which his or her attention has been called, in accordance with the provisions of this part, by reason of which any property has been destroyed or damaged, or any person injured or killed, and shall especially examine and decide as to whether such fire was the result of carelessness, design, an incendiary device or any other criminal act. [He] Said commissioner may take the testimony under oath of any person supposed to be cognizant of or to have means of knowledge in relation to the matters as to which an examination is being made, and shall cause the same to be reduced to writing and filed in his or her office; and if, in his or her opinion, there is sufficient evidence to warrant that any person should be charged with the crime of arson or any other crime, [he] the commissioner shall forthwith submit such evidence, together with the names of the witnesses and all other information obtained by him or her, to the proper prosecuting officer. [He] Said commissioner may, in any investigation, issue subpoenas for the purposes of summoning and compelling the attendance of witnesses before him or her to testify. [He] The commissioner may administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses before him or her, and false swearing by any such witnesses [therein] shall be perjury. [He] The commissioner may, in the performance of his or her duties, enter, [by himself or his assistants] in person or through the assistants of said commissioner, into and upon the premises or building where any fire or explosion has occurred and premises thereto adjacent in accordance with the provisions of section 29-311.
(b) Whenever it comes to his or her knowledge or to the knowledge of any local fire marshal that there exists in any building or upon any premises combustible material or flammable conditions dangerous to the safety of such building or premises or dangerous to any other building or property, or conditions that present a fire hazard to the occupants [thereof] of such building or premises, the commissioner, or any local fire marshal, obtaining such knowledge, shall order such material to be forthwith removed or such conditions remedied by the owner or occupant of such building or premises, and such owner or occupant shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by section 29-295 and, in addition, [thereto,] shall suffer a penalty of one hundred dollars a day for each day of neglect, to be recovered in a proper action in the name of the state.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2011 29-310
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2011
29-310
Statement of Purpose:
To make technical changes to the statutes concerning the State Fire Marshal.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]