Chapter 58

Nothing in this Article shall be construed to limit powers granted to and duties imposed upon the chiefs of fire departments and building inspectors by Article 11, Chapter 160 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, but the powers granted in this Article shall be in addition t…

Any person who in any fashion or manner negligently or carelessly sets fire to any bedding, furniture, draperies, house or household furnishings or other equipment or appurtenances in or to any hotel or other building of like occupancy shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1…

Members and employees of county, municipal corporation, fire protection district, sanitary district or privately incorporated fire departments shall have authority to do all acts reasonably necessary to extinguish fires and protect life and property from fire. Any person, includi…

(a) For the purpose of this section, a "rural fire department" means a bona fide fire department incorporated as a nonprofit corporation which under schedules filed with or approved by the Commissioner of Insurance, is classified as not less than Class "9" in accordance with rati…

(a) Guidelines. - The State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the State Fire and Rescue Commission, must establish guidelines, testing, and training requirements for the following: (1) Individuals who assist a display operator with the exhibition, use, handling, or discharge of …

The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Assistant display operator. - An individual who, under the supervision of the display operator, assists with the safety, setup, and discharge of a pyrotechnic display and who is licensed pursuant to this Article. (2) Event empl…

(a) The State Fire Marshal shall have full power and authority to administer the provisions of this Article, which establishes guidelines for the use, handling, exhibiting, or discharge of pyrotechnics in connection with a concert or public exhibition, as allowed under Article 54…

A proximate audience display operator license issued by the State Fire Marshal is required for an individual to obtain the necessary authorization under Article 54 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes to exhibit, use, handle, manufacture, or discharge pyrotechnics at a concert o…

(a) No person shall assist a pyrotechnics display operator or a proximate audience display operator with the exhibition, use, handling, or discharge of pyrotechnics or pyrotechnic effects in connection with a concert or public exhibition authorized under Article 54 of Chapter 14 …

An individual may not use, handle, exhibit, or discharge pyrotechnics in connection with a concert or public exhibition, as allowed under Article 54 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, unless the individual successfully completes the training approved or offered by the Office …

(a) No person shall obtain a pyrotechnics permit under Article 54 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes unless the person possesses the appropriate license, as provided by this Article. (b) An applicant for a license authorized by this Article shall apply on forms supplied by the…

A license issued to a pyrotechnics display operator, a proximate audience display operator, or an assistant display operator under this Article authorizes the licensee to act in that capacity until the license is suspended, revoked, or not renewed. Upon the suspension or revocati…

(a) A nonrefundable license fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be paid by the applicant to the Office of the State Fire Marshal at the time of each application for a pyrotechnics display operator license. (b) A nonrefundable license fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) sh…

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Article, the State Fire Marshal or the fire code official for the jurisdiction issuing the pyrotechnics permit under G.S. 14-413 may certify an individual as an event employee if the individual meets the following requirements: (1) Is at lea…

(a) License Required. - A display operator license issued by the State Fire Marshal is required for an individual to obtain the necessary authorization under Article 54 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes to exhibit, use, handle, manufacture, or discharge pyrotechnics at a conc…

(a) Each applicant for a license as a pyrotechnic display operator, a proximate audience display operator, or assistant display operator shall take a written examination approved by the State Fire Marshal. The State Fire Marshal may contract with a person to process, administer, …

(a) To renew a license as a pyrotechnics display operator, a proximate audience display operator, or an assistant display operator, a licensee shall make application to the State Fire Marshal upon the renewal application form provided by the Office of the State Fire Marshal and a…

If any individual holds more than one license issued under this Article simultaneously, all licenses are considered one license for the purpose of disciplinary actions involving suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal under this Article. Separate fees must be paid for each license.…

The State Fire Marshal may issue a license under this Article to an individual who holds a comparable valid permit, license, or certification issued by another state, provided the minimum requirements of that state are at least equal to the minimum requirements under this Article…

The State Fire Marshal may deny, suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew any license under this Article if any of the following apply: (1) The licensee violates any provision of this Article. (2) The applicant or licensee violates any requirement of a permit issued under G.S. 14-413.…

(a) The suspension or revocation of, or refusal to renew, any license under this Article may be contested in accordance with the provisions of Article 3A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. (b) Whenever the State Fire Marshal denies an initial application for a license or an…

The General Assembly finds that certain firefighting foams used to fight Class B fires, often referred to as Aqueous Film-Forming Foams (AFFF), are critical for fire suppression and public safety. However, because many AFFF could contain per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, cert…

The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) shall do all of the following: (1) Educate and inform every fire department it regulates of the reporting requirements imposed by this Article. (2) Develop and maintain, with the assistance of the North Carolina Collaboratory establishe…

The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) shall report annually to the Environmental Review Commission no later than September 1 of each year on the utilization and inventory of AFFF by fire departments across the State during the previous fiscal year based on the reporting req…

Fire departments operated, regulated, or managed by one or more units of State and local government, including those located at or serving public airports, in partnership with the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), shall, no later than July 1, 2022, and annually thereafter,…

A county, municipal corporation, fire protection district, sanitary district or incorporated fire department shall have full authority to send, or to decline to send, firemen and apparatus beyond the territorial limits which it normally serves. When responding to a call and while…

(a) Distribution. - The Insurance Commissioner, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal, shall deduct the sum of three percent (3%) from the tax proceeds credited to the Department pursuant to G.S. 105-228.5(d)(3) and pay the same over to the treasurer of the North Carolina S…

For each county, town or city complying with and deriving benefits from the provisions of this Article, there shall be appointed a local board of trustees, known as the trustees of the local Firefighters' Relief Fund, to be composed of five members, two of whom shall be elected b…

Local boards of trustees shall manage local relief funds as prudent trustees of the funds, subject to Chapter 36E of the General Statutes. (2014-64, s. 1(a).)

(a) The balance of a local fire department's Firefighters' Relief Fund for a given year shall not exceed the product of multiplying the number of members on the department's roster as of January 1 for that year by the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500). (b) The Nor…

(a) The board of trustees shall have entire control of the funds derived from the provisions of this Article, and shall disburse the funds only for the following purposes: (1) To safeguard any firefighter in active service from financial loss, occasioned by sickness contracted or…

(a) Each local board of trustees shall keep a correct account of all moneys received and disbursed by them. On a form prescribed by the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association, each local board shall certify by October 31 of each year the following to the Association: the …

(a) Working with the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association, the State Fire Marshal shall develop and maintain a database of the information reported under G.S. 58-84-40(b) and the certifications filed under G.S. 58-84-46. (b) The State Fire Marshal shall issue to each fi…

On or before October 31 of each year, the fire chief of each city or county that has a local board of trustees under G.S. 58-84-30 shall file a certificate of eligibility with the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association on a form prescribed by the Association. If the certi…

The following definitions apply in Articles 84, 85, 85A, 87, and 88 of this Chapter: (1) City. - A fire district. (2) Clerk. - The clerk of a fire district or, if there is no clerk, the person so designated by the governing body of the fire district. (3) Fire district. - Any poli…

For the purpose of supervision and as a guaranty that provisions of this Article shall be honestly administered in a businesslike manner, it is provided that every department enjoying the benefits of this law shall be a member of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association…

(a) Individual firefighters whose departments are not members of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association shall be covered under the line of duty coverage offered by the Association. (b) Benefits under this section shall be paid from the funds that are forfeited from lo…

The local boards of trustees of the local Firefighters' Relief Funds shall make no discrimination based upon race in the payment of benefits. (1907, c. 831, s. 10; C.S., s. 6073; 1985, c. 666, s. 62; 2007-246, s. 8; 2014-64, s. 1(a).)

A person serving on a local board of trustees of a local Firefighters' Relief Fund shall be immune individually from civil liability for monetary damages, except to the extent covered by insurance, for any act or failure to act arising out of this service, except where the person…

The following provisions contained within any local act enacted or amended prior to January 1, 2014, are hereby repealed: (1) Any redirection, at the time of receipt, of funds directed to a fire district under G.S. 58-84-25(c) to a fund other than a local relief fund. (2) Any res…

The money paid into the hands of the treasurer of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association shall be known and remain as the "Firefighters' Relief Fund" of North Carolina, and shall be used as a fund for the relief of firefighters and county fire marshals, who are member…

The treasurer of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association shall make a detailed report to the State Treasurer and the State Fire Marshal of the yearly expenditures of the appropriation under Articles 84 through 88 of this Chapter on or before the end of the fiscal year,…

The line of duty entitling one to participate in the fund shall be so construed as to mean actual fire duty only, and any actual duty connected with the fire department or county fire marshal office when directed to perform the same by an officer in charge. (1891, c. 468, s. 5; R…

Any organized fire company in North Carolina, holding itself ready for duty, may, upon compliance with the requirements of its constitution and bylaws, become a member of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association, and any firefighter of good moral character in North Caro…

G.S. 58-85-1, 58-85-10, 58-85-15, 58-85-20, and 58-85-25 shall apply to any firefighter or fire marshal who is a member of a regularly organized fire company or county fire marshal office, and is a member in good standing of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association. (18…

(a) The treasurer of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association shall pay to the treasurer of the North Carolina State Volunteer Firemen's Association one sixth of the funds arising from the three percent (3%) paid the treasurer of the North Carolina State Firefighters' A…

The North Carolina State Firefighters' Association shall manage the Firefighters' Relief Fund as a prudent trustee of the funds, subject to Chapter 36E of the General Statutes. (2014-64, s. 1(e); 2016-51, s. 6.)

(a) There is created in the Department of Insurance the State Fire Protection Grant Fund. The purpose of the Fund is to compensate local fire districts and political subdivisions of the State for providing local fire protection to State-owned buildings and their contents. (b) The…

For the purpose of furthering the general welfare and police powers and obligations of the State with respect to the protection of all its citizens from the consequences of loss or damage by fire and of injury by serious accident or illness, of increasing the protection of life a…

The Board of Trustees of the North Carolina Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System shall administer the Pension Fund. The board shall request appropriations out of the general fund for administrative expenses and to provide for the financing of this pension fund, employ …