Massachusetts Statutes

Section 55. A town which has established a fire department may vote to fix the term of office for the members of such department at one year from a designated day, and may at the same time determine the then current term of office of members of fire departments; but no term shall…

Section 56. Except in towns subject to section fifty-nine, any city by ordinance and any town by by-law may establish the hours of labor of the members of its fire department.

Section 57. Subject to section fifty-nine, members of the fire department of every city which accepted chapter five hundred and forty-six of the acts of nineteen hundred and twelve or chapter ninety-seven of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and fifteen, shall be excused from …

Section 57A. If any permanent member of the fire fighting force or fire alarm division of a fire department of a city or town is required to serve a tour of duty during the twenty-four hour period commencing at eight o'clock in the morning of January the first, July the fourth or…

Section 57B. Members of the fire department in any city, town, or fire district adopting this section may be excused from duty for not more than four days in any year without loss of pay while in attendance as an official delegate to the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusett…

Section 57C. Members of the fire department in any city or town accepting the provisions of this section may be excused from duty for not more than two days in any year without loss of pay while in attendance as an official delegate to the convention of the Massachusetts Permanen…

Section 57D. If any permanent member of the fire fighting force or fire alarm division of a fire department of a city or town which accepts this section is required to be on duty at any time on January the first, July the fourth or Christmas day, or the day following when any of …

Section 57E. If the chief of a fire department of a city or town or the chief, chief engineer or head of a fire department of a fire district is on duty at any time on January the first, July the fourth or Christmas day, or the day following when any of said days occurs on Sunday…

Section 57G. The permanent, full-time fire chief or chief engineer of a fire department in any city, other than Boston, or town or fire district, and the permanent, full-time chief of police or superintendent of police, or city marshall, in any city, other than Boston, or town sh…

Section 57H. The elected officers of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, AFL–CIO–CLC shall be granted leave, if on duty, by the municipal employer for those regularly scheduled work hours spent in the performance of their elected responsibilities in such organization.

Section 57I. In any city, town or district which accepts the provisions of this section, elected officers of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, AFL–CIO–CLC, shall be granted leave, without loss of pay or benefits and without being required to make up lost time, if on…

Section 58. In every town which accepted chapter two hundred and ninety-one of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and sixteen or chapter one hundred and forty of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and seventeen, or in which the provisions of chapter thirty-one were, on April …

Section 58A. The hours of duty of the permanent members of the uniformed fire fighting force in every city in which this section is accepted by the mayor and by the city council and in every town in which it is accepted by vote of the town at an annual town meeting shall be so es…

Section 58B. The hours of duty of the permanent members of the uniformed fire fighting force in every city and town in which this section is accepted as hereinafter provided shall be so established by the fire commissioner, board of fire commissioners, chief engineer, board of en…

Section 58C. If an officer or member, other than the chief, of the fire fighting force of the fire department of a city, town or fire district shall be required to be on duty for any period in excess of his regular hours of duty as from time to time established, he may be given t…

Section 58D. The hours of duty of the permanent members of the uniformed fire fighting force in every city and town in which this section is accepted as hereinafter provided shall be so established by the fire commissioner, board of fire commissioners, chief engineer, board of en…

Section 58E. In any city or town which accepts this section, applicants for positions in and members of the regular fire department of said city or town may reside outside said city or town; provided, they reside within the commonwealth and within ten miles of the limits of said …

Section 59. The permanent members of the uniformed fire fighting force in every town which accepts this section or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws shall be divided by the fire commissioner, board of fire commissioners, chief engineer, board of engineers, or …

Section 59A. Cities, towns and fire districts may, by ordinance or by-law, or by vote of the board of aldermen, selectmen or of the prudential committee or board exercising similar powers, authorize their respective fire departments to go to aid another city, town, fire district …

Section 59B. Any city, except Boston, in which the city council, with the approval of the mayor, accepts this and the two following sections, may establish a reserve force of firemen in its fire department; and appointments thereto and removals therefrom shall, subject to chapter…

Section 59C. The number of members of such reserve force shall not exceed five in cities in which the number of members of the regular force does not exceed fifteen. If the number of members of the regular force exceeds fifteen, one member may be added to the reserve force for ev…

Section 59D. The mayor, chief of the fire department or the officer or board having charge of the said department in a city wherein such reserve force is established may assign the members thereof to duty in the said department whenever and for such length of time as he or it may…

Section 59E. In any city which has accepted sections fifty-nine B to fifty-nine D, inclusive, and accepts this section, and in any city or town which has a reserve force of firemen under authority of special law and accepts this section, no person shall, after the date of accepta…

Section 6. Such firewards or other officers may require assistance for extinguishing a fire and for removing furniture, goods or merchandise from a building on fire or in danger of fire. They may appoint guards to secure the same, may require assistance for demolishing a building…

Section 60. Fire departments may be established in districts containing not less than one thousand inhabitants, or not less than five hundred inhabitants in towns the population of which does not exceed two thousand; and the officers thereof shall have charge of and be responsibl…

Section 61. Before a district is constituted and organized, a petition shall be presented to the town at a meeting, stating the limits of the proposed district, and requesting the town to raise taxes for the establishment and maintenance of a sufficient fire department for the re…

Section 62. The selectmen, on written application of not less than seven freeholders, inhabitants of such proposed district, setting forth the limits thereof, and requiring them to notify a meeting of the voters thereof to consider the expediency of organizing such district and e…

Section 63. If at such meeting the voters determine to organize such district, they shall choose a clerk, who shall be sworn. He may be removed by the district, and in case of a vacancy another may be chosen; or in such case, or in case of his disability, the selectmen may appoin…

Section 64. The district at such meeting may vote to establish a fire department, to consist of a chief engineer and as many assistant engineers, enginemen, hosemen and hook and ladder men as they may consider necessary, not exceeding seventy-five for each suction engine, thirty-…

Section 65. The chief engineer and assistant engineers shall be chosen for terms not exceeding three years; provided, however, that the district, at any meeting held in accordance with section 66, may vote to authorize the prudential committee to appoint the chief engineer and as…

Section 66. Every district meeting, except as otherwise provided by special law, shall be called in pursuance of a warrant under the hands of the prudential committee, notice of which shall be given seven days at least before such meeting. The warrant shall be directed to a const…

Section 67. The registrars of voters of towns containing fire districts, or the prudential committee in districts composed of portions of two or more towns, shall, at least ten days before the annual fire district election, make correct alphabetical lists of all persons qualified…

Section 68. Section eight of chapter forty-one and sections eighty-three and one hundred and six of chapter fifty-four shall apply to fire districts.

Section 69. Such districts may, at meetings called therefor, raise money by taxation for the purchase of engines and other articles necessary for the extinguishment of fires, for hydrant and water service, for the purchase of land, for the erection and repairs of necessary buildi…

Section 7. They may direct the stations and operations of the enginemen with their engines and of all other persons, for the purpose of extinguishing the fire. Whoever refuses or neglects to obey such orders shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten dollars.

Section 71. Such districts shall choose a prudential committee, which shall expend, for the purposes prescribed by the district, the money so raised or borrowed, and shall choose a treasurer, who shall give bond for the faithful performance of his official duties in a sum and wit…

Section 72. If the treasurer is prevented from performing his official duties, or if the office is vacant, the prudential committee may in writing appoint a temporary treasurer, who shall give a bond in like manner as the treasurer and shall hold his office until another is chose…

Section 73. The clerk shall certify to the assessors of the town all votes of the district authorizing interest to be added to taxes and all sums of money voted to be raised, which shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as town taxes, and shall be paid over to the dis…

Section 74. The board of engineers may make and publish rules and regulations as provided in case of fire departments by sections fifty-three and fifty-four. It may appoint and remove enginemen, hosemen and hook and ladder men, and fill vacancies in the companies.

Section 75. Engineers shall have and exercise within their district the powers and authority of firewards of towns relating to the extinguishment of fires and the demolition of buildings; and districts shall be liable in the same manner for acts done by such engineers, or by thei…

Section 76. Members of the fire department of such district shall have the immunities and privileges of firewards and enginemen of towns, and shall receive such compensation as the district determines.

Section 77. No by-law, rule or regulation adopted by a fire district imposing a penalty shall be in force until approved by the attorney general and published at least three times in one or more newspapers, if any, published in the town; otherwise, in one or more newspapers publi…

Section 77A. A fire district may hold real estate for the public use of its inhabitants and may by its prudential committee let or lease for not more than ten years, on such terms as said committee may determine, land, a public building or part thereof.

Section 78. Penalties under any of the four preceding sections may be recovered in tort in the name of the chief engineer and appropriated to expenses of the fire department of the district, or on complaint or indictment to the use of the commonwealth. If the chief engineer dies,…

Section 79. A district, at a meeting called therefor, may annex adjacent territory and its inhabitants, if a majority of the voters of said territory petition therefor, defining the limits thereof; or may, on the petition of any person, with the assent of the town containing such…

Section 8. The mayor in cities, subject to charter provisions, and, except as provided in section forty-three, the selectmen in towns, shall annually, in June, appoint a forest warden, and forthwith give notice thereof to the commissioner of environmental management, in this chap…