TITLE 2. FIRES AND THEIR EXTINCTION. Sec. 748. Right of way; obstructing. 749. Hose-bridges on railway tracks. 750. Fire hydrants not to be obstructed. 752. Id.; duties of. 753. Explosives; depots for storage of. 754. Pulling down buildings to prevent spread of fire. Right of way; obstructing. 748. The officers and men of the fire department, with their apparatus of all kinds, when on duty, shall have the right of way at any fire in any highway, street or avenue, over any and all vehicles of any kind, except those carrying the United States mail. And any person in or upon any vehicle who shall refuse the right of way, or in any way obstruct any fire apparatus, or any of said officers while in the performance of duty, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be liable to punishment for the same. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 444. Hose-bridges on railway tracks. $749. The fire commissioner is empowered to provide for laying over the railway tracks of the city the hose used by the department for the extinguishment of fire by such hose-bridges as he may deem necessary. The various railway companies operating cars within the limits of The City of New York as constituted by this act shall provide, pay for and use such hose-bridges as may be designated by the said commissioner. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 445. Fire hydrants not to be obstructed. § 750. No person shall in any manner obstruct the use of any fire hydrant in said city, or allow any snow or ice to be thrown or piled upon or around the same, or have or place, or allow to be placed, any material in front thereof, from the curb line to the center of the street, and to within ten feet from either side thereof, and all snow and ice accumulating within such space shall be removed by the owner or owners, lessee or lessees, of the premises fronting the same in the same manner as is prescribed for the keeping clear of the sidewalk, under a penalty of ten dollars for each and every such offense; and any and all material found as an obstruction, as afore said, may be forthwith removed by the officers or employes of said department, and at the risk, cost and expense of the owner or claimant, and said fire commissioner may take all proper measures to keep said hydrants from freezing, and in proper condition for use at all times. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 446. Sappers and miners. § 751. The fire commissioner is hereby empowered and directed to maintain in the fire department a corps to be known as the corps. of sappers and miners. Said corps shall be composed of not exceeding three members, either officers or private firemen, of each company in said fire department, and said members shall be appointed by said commissioner, upon the nomination of the chief of department. The said commissioner shall appoint a suitable officer, who shall be skilled in the use of explosives, whose duty it shall be to instruct and drill said corps in the use of explosives, and to give said corps such other instruction as may be required to qualify them to effectually discharge the duties imposed upon them by this title. Such officer shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars, and such salary shall be raised and paid in the same manner as the salaries of the other officers appointed by said commissioner. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 447. Id.; duties of. § 752. Whenever, under and by virtue of the acts relating to the extinguishment of fires in the city, the destruction or pulling down of any building or buildings shall be deemed necessary and shall be ordered by the officer in command at any fire in said city, it shall be the duty of said corps, or any member or members thereof, by the direction of said officer in command at such fire, to level and destroy such building or buildings by the use of explosives, for the purpose of arresting the spread of such fire, and it shall be lawful for them to enter and take possession of the same for such purposes. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 448. Explosives; depots for storage of. 753. The fire commissioner shall establish in The City of New York, one or more depots for the storage and safe-keeping of such explosives as may be required for the use of said corps, and may limit the quantity of any such explosives to be kept at any one of such depots. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 449. Pulling down buildings to prevent spread of fire. § 754. When any building or buildings in The City of New York shall be on fire, it shall be lawful for the fire commissioner to direct and order the same, or any other building which he may deem hazardous, and likely to take fire, or to convey the fire to other buildings, to be pulled down or destroyed. Upon the application of any person interested in such building so pulled down or destroyed, to the supreme court, in and for the county or any adjoining county, in the judicial department within which such building is situated, it shall be its duty to issue a precept for a jury to inquire into and assess the damages which the owners of such building and all persons having an estate or interest therein have respectively sustained by the pulling down or destruction thereof; which precept shall be issued, directed, executed, returned and proceeded upon, and the proceedings thereon shall take effect as nearly as may be, in such manner as is provided in the case of land taken for public purposes; and, the said inquiry and assessment having been confirmed by the court, the sums assessed by the jury shall be paid by The City of New York to the respective persons in whose favor the jury shall have assessed the same, in full satisfaction of all demands of such persons respectively, by reason of the pulling down. or destruction of such building; and the court before whom such process shall be returnable shall have power to compel the attendance of jurors and witnesses upon any such assessment of damages. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 450. (a) The city cannot be held in a civil action for loss of personal property, as a building destroyed by virtue of this section, but the owners of such property are limited to an assessment according to the statute, and, therefore, persons having no interest in the building destroyed are not entitled to recover for their losses. Russell v. The Mayor, 2 Denio, 461. (b) The mayor and aldermen in making an order for the destruction of a building do not act as agents or officers of the city, but as magistrates designated by the legislature to execute a public duty. Russell v. The Mavor, ante. (c) The authority conferred to order destruction of buildings is not a grant of a right of eminent is domain, and not, therefore, within the constitutional provision requiring compensation for private property taken for public use. Russell v. The Mayor, ante. (d) Under this section the city is liable in damages as well for loss of merchandise or other personal effects which may be, at the time of destruction of the building, the property of the occupant, as for loss from the destruction of the building itself. The Mayor v. Lord, 17 Wend. 285; affi'd in 18 Id. 126. (c) But unless the claimant has an estate or interest in the building he cannot recover for personal property destroyed. The Mayor v. Stone, 20 Wend. 139; affi'd in 25 Id. 157. An owner or lessee having goods in building as a factor or commission merchant, can claim damages to the amount of his lien, but not for the value of the goods Thid. for the benefit of the owner. A person having goods stored in a building destroyed is not entitled to be a claimant under this section. Ibid. (f) It seems that damages are not recoverable if the building would have been destroyed by the fire, if no order for its destruction had been given. The Mayor v. Lord, ante; Pentz v. Receiver of Ætna Fire Ins. Co., 9 Paige, 568. See American Print Works v. Lawrence, 3 Zabr. (N. J.) 9; affi'd, Id. 590. (g) In a case of public necessity to prevent the spreading of a fire, any individual may demolish a building without being responsible in trespass or otherwise. But if such public necessity does not exist, and in point of fact there is no need of the destruction, the person who commits the act is responsible in damages. Struve v. Droge, 10 Abb. N. C. 142. Idle persons, etc., may be removed from fires. $755. During the actual prevalence of any fire, it shall and may be lawful for the officers of the police and fire departments to remove, or cause to be removed and kept away from the vicinity of such fire, all idle and suspicious persons, and all persons not fit to be employed or not actually and usefully employed, in their judgment, in aiding the extinguishment of such fire or in the preservation of property in the vicinity thereof. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 451. PREVENTION OF FIRES TITLE 3. EXPLOSIVES AND COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS. Sec. 760. Shavings; how to be stowed away. 761. Hoistways, iron shutters, etc., to be closed. 762. Lights, precautions against fire and use of aisles in places of amusement. 763. Gunpowder and other explosives; sales thereof regulated. 764. Fireworks and explosive compounds; manufacture and sale thereof. 765. Petroleum and coal oils, etc.; sale thereof. 766. Id.; continued. 767. Criminal liability if death results from violation of foregoing rules. 768. Fires and lights on vessels transporting petroleum. 769. Storage of certain chemicals regulated. 770. Id.; of certain vegetable products. 771. Right to enter buildings, etc., for purposes of examination. 773. Fines and penalties. Shavings; how to be stowed away. § 760. All carpenters or others in said city making or using shavings, shall, at the close of each day, cause the same to be securely stowed in some safe place remote from danger by fire, under the penalty of five dollars for each omission to do so. No person shall kindle any fire nor furnish the materials, nor in any way authorize or allow any fire to be made in any street, road, alley, lane, or upon any pier, wharf, or bulkhead in the city, except under such regulations as shall be established by the fire commissioner, under a penalty of ten dollars for each and every such offense. If any chimney, stove-pipe, or flue within the city shall take fire, the occupant of the premises to which such chimney, stove, or flue appertains shall forfeit the sum of five dollars. L. 1882, ch. 410, § 452. Hoistways, iron shutters, etc., to be closed. § 761. All hoistways, well-holes, trap-doors, and iron shutters shall be closed at the completion of the business of each day by the occupant of the building having use or control of the same, and in case of a violation of this provision, such occupant having the use or control thereof shall forfeit and pay a penalty of fifty dollars for each and every neglect or omission so to do. And for any accident or injury to life or limb, resulting directly or indirectly from any neglect or omission to properly comply with any of the requirements of this section, the person or persons culpable or negligent in respect thereto shall be liable to pay any officer, agent, or employe of said fire department injured, or whose life may be lost (resulting from such neglect or omission) while in the discharge or performance of any duty imposed by said commissioner, or to the wife and children, or to the parents, or to the brothers and sisters, being the surviving heirs-at-law of any deceased person thus having lost his life, a sum of money, in case of injury to person, not less than one thousand dollars, and in case of death not less than five thousand dollars, such liability to be determined and such sums recovered in an action to be instituted by said fire commissioner for and in behalf of any person injured, or the family or relatives of any person killed as aforesaid; and any and all persons for any fire, resulting from his or their wilful or culpable negligence or criminal intent or design, shall, in addition to the present provisions of law for the punishment of persons convicted of arson, be liable in a civil action for the payment of any and all damages to the person and property, the result of such fire, and also for the payment of all costs and expenses of said fire department incurred in and about the use of employes, apparatus, and materials in the extinguishment of any fire resulting from such cause, the amount of such costs and expenses to be fixed by said commissioner, and when collected shall be paid into the relief fund of said department herein created; and shall also be liable for injury to person or less of life of any officer, agent, or employe of said fire department in the same manner and like extent, and to be |