HB1988enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1988 Enrolled LRB095 04295 LCT 24336 b

AN ACT concerning fire safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Fire Investigation Act is amended by changing Section 6 and by adding Section 6.1 as follows:

(425 ILCS 25/6) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 6)

Sec. 6. The chief of the fire department of every municipality in which a fire department is established and the fire chief of every legally organized fire protection district shall investigate the cause, origin and circumstances of every fire occurring in such municipality or fire protection district, or in any area or on any property which is furnished fire protection by the fire department of such municipality or fire protection district, by which property has been destroyed or damaged, and shall especially make investigation as to whether such fire was the result of carelessness or design. Such investigation shall be begun within two days, not including Sunday, of the occurrence of such fire, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal shall have the right to supervise and direct such investigation whenever it deems it expedient or necessary. The officer making investigation of fires occurring in cities, villages, towns, fire protection districts or townships shall forthwith notify the Office of the State Fire Marshal and shall by the 15th of the month following the occurrence of the fire, furnish to the Office a statement of all facts relating to the cause and origin of the fire, and such other information as may be called for in a format approved or on forms provided by the Office. The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall keep a record of all fires occurring in the State, together with all facts, statistics and circumstances, including the origin of the fires, which may be determined by the investigations provided by this act; such record shall at all times be open to the public inspection, and such portions of it as the State Director of Insurance may deem necessary shall be transcribed and forwarded to him within fifteen days from the first of January of each year. In addition to the reporting of fires, the chief of the fire department shall furnish to the Office such other information as the State Fire Marshal deems of importance to the fire services.

(Source: P.A. 82-706.)

(425 ILCS 25/6.1 new)

Sec. 6.1. Rules. The State Fire Marshal may adopt necessary rules for the administration of the reporting of fires, hazardous material incidents, and other incidents or events that the State Fire Marshal deems of importance to the fire services. The reporting of such information shall be based upon the nationally recognized standards of the United States Fire Administration's National fire Incident Reporting System (NIFRS).