§ 7-313e — Authority of fire officer during emergency. Determination of whether death of firefighter caused by a cardiac event, stroke or pulmonary embolism occurred in line of duty.

(a) Notwithstanding any provision in the general statutes or a municipal ordinance to the contrary, the fire chief of the municipality, or any member serving in the capacity of fire officer-in-charge, shall, when any fire department or company is responding to or operating at a fire, service call or other emergency, within such municipality, have the authority to: (1) Control and direct emergency activities at such scene; (2) order any person to leave any building or place in the vicinity of such fire for the purpose of protecting such person from injury; (3) blockade any public highway, street or private right-of-way temporarily while at such scene; (4) at any time of the day or night, enter any building, including a private dwelling, or upon any premises where a fire is in progress or near the scene of any fire, or where there is reasonable cause to believe a fire is in progress, for the purpose of extinguishing the fire or preventing its spread; (5) inspect for the purposes of preventing fires and preplanning the control of fire all buildings, structures or other places in their fire district, except the interior of private dwellings, where any combustible material, including, but not limited to, waste paper, rags, shavings, waste, leather, rubber, crates, boxes, barrels or rubbish, that is or may become dangerous as a fire menace to such buildings, structures or other places has been allowed to accumulate or where such chief or such chief's designated representative has reason to believe that such material has accumulated or is liable to be accumulated; (6) order disengagement or discouplement of any convoy, caravan or train of vehicles, craft or railway cars for the purpose of extinguishing a fire or preventing its spread; and (7) take command of any industrial fire brigade or fire chief when such fire company or department has been called to such industry. (b) If the death of a uniformed paid or volunteer firefighter is caused by a cardiac event, stroke or pulmonary embolism that occurred not later than twenty-four hours after such firefighter concluded a shift or training, the chief of such firefighter's fire department shall have the authority to determine whether such firefighter died in the line of duty, unless a local charter or ordinance in effect on October 1, 2024, provides the authority to a different individual or entity to make such determination. Such declaration by a chief shall not be used as evidence for a workers' compensation claim under chapter 568.

Legislative History

(P.A. 75-599; P.A. 77-232; P.A. 24-16, S. 1.) History: P.A. 77-232 clarified authority of fire officers, extending authority to time when responding to call and including emergencies and service calls as well as fire, deleting authority to trespass without liability and adding authority to make inspections and to order disbanding of convoys, caravans etc; P.A. 24-16 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a) and replaced Subsec. designators with Subdiv. designators, added Subsec. (b) re determination of death in line of duty and made technical changes. Cited. 24 CA 598.