INFORMATION #2 08-18-1997City of
INFOF IgATiON
MEMORANDUM
iver
FROM:
Mayor & City Council,
Pat Klaers, City Administrator
Bruce A. West
DATE:
August 18, 1997
SUBJECT: Fire Department Training and Practice
Burn Policy
At this time I would hke to update you on the Fire Department pohcy of
practice burns within our responding area. Our Fire Department receives
numerous requests from property owners in our responding area to conduct
training burns at their building sites because of an additional expense in
demohshing and removing those structures. All training should have a burn
plan or be done as per guidehnes in the structural burn training manual for
the Minnesota Technical College system. A permit must be obtained from
the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 14 days prior to the actual
burn training to be conducted. We attempt to be very selective in the
buildings to be used, using location safety of the structure, water supply, and
others as criteria for selection of the proposed training burn site.
We also have a habihty agreement form that the owner of the burn structure
and the City must sign to release the property to the Fire Department (see
attached agreement). If we are in an area where neighbors could be affected,
we would make every effort to notify the neighborhood of the pending
training practice burn. We are currently entering into a training burn
agreement with Tom Hartman for a practice burn, with the structure located
at 13523 Highway 10. The structure at this address is an ideal building to
conduct a training practice burn for the Elk River Fire Department. We will
be having the agreement signed by Tom Hartman, and after the agreement is
signed, we plan on doing some preparation for the scheduled practice burn on
September 6, 1997, starting at 7:00 a.m.
The acceptance and use of structures for future practice burns will depend on
location, safety of the structure, and what type of area the potential practice
burn site is in. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the issue of
training practice burns, please contact me at the Elk River Fire Department.
XXelkriverXsysXshr doc\offsiteXfireXpractice .doc
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 ° TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT, entered into this __ day of ,
1995, by and between , the CITY OF ELK RIVER, a
Municipal Corporation (the City) and the ELK RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENT
(tho Fire Departm~nO.
WHEREAS, is the owner of certain real property the
Property legally described as City
of Elk River, County of Sherburne, State of Minnesota; and,
WHEREAS, there are/is
on the Property; and
buildings(s) {the Building(s)} located
WHEREAS,
and
desires to have the Building(s) destroyed;
WHEREAS, the Fire Department is willing to destroy the building(s)
by fire if the building(s) can be used for smoke drilling and other training
exercises before and during their destruction by fire.
NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereto in consideration of the mutual
covenants and considerations hereinafter set forth do agree as follows:
Entry onto the Property Authorized. hereby expressly
authorized the Fire Department and the City to enter onto the
Property one or more times for the purpose or conducting smoke
drilling and other training exercises (the Training Exercises and
related activities in the Building(s) and on the Property. The City and
Fire Department shall enter the Property solely for the purpose of
conducting training exercises and for related activities such as
preliminary and follow-up inspections.
Waiver of Trespass. expressly waives any claim of
trespass against the Fire Department or the City for entry onto the
Property for the purposes of conducting training exercises and related
activity on the Property.
Waiver of Damages. expressly waives any claim against
the Fire Department or the City for any damages to the Property or
the Building(s) caused or allegedly caused by the Fire Department or
the City in the course of performing the Training exercises and
activities related thereto.
Liability and Indemnification. The City and the Fire Department
shall be solely liable for any injury to the Fire Department personnel
or other persons caused by or as a direct result of the Training
Exercises. The City and the Fire Department shall indemnify and
save harmless against any and all claims by or on behalf
of any person or persons arising from the conduct of the Training
Exercises. The City and the Fire Department shall not, however, be
liable for any injuries caused by or resulting from
failure to clean up the Property and remove the debris of the
Building(s) within the time period allowed by Section 5 of this
Agreement.
Clean Up. shall be solely responsible for removing all
debris from the Property following completion of the Training
Exercises, regardless of the condition of the Property and/or the
Building(s) following completion of the Training exercises. The City
shall notify in writing when the Training Exercises are
completed, shall have thirty (30) days from the date of
that notice to complete the removal of all debris and remnants of the
Building(s) so that the condition of the Property is in full compliance
with the City Ordinances. The City reserves the right to inspect the
Property from time to time as necessary to insure
compliance with this obligation to clean up the Property.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this
Agreement on the above date.
PROPERTY OWNER
By:
CITY OF ELK RIVER
By:
Its Mayor
ELK RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENT
By:
Chief Bruce A. West
s:kfireagr.doc