An Act To Clarify Certain Laws Related to Fire Safety

Sec. 1. 8 MRSA §162,  as repealed and replaced by PL 1967, c. 265, is amended to read:

§ 162. Violations

Whoever, being an An owner, lessee, tenant or licensee of a pavilion, hall or other building , in which a dance is held in violation of any restriction imposed by section 161 , shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100 or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or by both. Said license may be suspended or revoked by the court commits a Class E crime.

Sec. 2. 25 MRSA §2395,  as amended by PL 1979, c. 44, is further amended to read:

§ 2395. Filing statement of fire occurrence

The municipal fire chief , his or a designee or municipal fire inspector shall file a written report with submit to the State Fire Marshal each month on forms provided by his office, setting forth all of the facts relating to the cause, origin and circumstances of fires occurring within his jurisdiction, along with a description of the kind, value and ownership of the property damage or destruction, with such other information as he may require an incident report for each response made, regardless of whether an actual fire occurred. Such The report shall at all times be open to public inspection, except in such instances as the Attorney General may determine that it would be detrimental to a pending criminal investigation must be submitted in a manner consistent with a national fire incident reporting system.

Sec. 3. 25 MRSA §2452, 2nd ¶,  as amended by PL 2003, c. 535, §3, is further amended to read:

Existing buildings licensed pursuant to Title 22, Subtitle 6 having more than 6 boarders, with the exception of board and care facilities and children's homes, must comply with any rules for residential-custodial residential board and care facilities occupancies required by the Commissioner of Public Safety, except that such existing facilities of not more than 2 stories in height are not required to be fire resistive, protected or unprotected noncombustible, protected wood frame or heavy timber construction. Such existing facilities must be protected by a complete approved automatic sprinkler system and meet all other requirements of residential-custodial residential board and care facilities occupancies as required by the Commissioner of Public Safety.

summary

This bill clarifies that a person who violates laws applicable to dance facilities commits a Class E crime. The bill requires that incident reports be submitted by municipal fire officials to the State Fire Marshal that are consistent with a national fire incident reporting system. In addition, the bill changes the term "residential-custodial care facilities" to "residential board and care occupancies" for the purposes of clarification and accuracy.