Z-0171.3  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1556

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State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

By Representatives Hatfield, Bush, Romero, McDonald, Dickerson, Ballasiotes, Scott, Radcliff, Poulsen, Delvin, Constantine, Mastin and Murray; by request of Washington State Patrol

Read first time 01/28/1999.  Referred to Committee on Local Government.

Increasing timeliness of fire death reports.

    AN ACT Relating to reporting of deaths or injuries from fire; and amending RCW 48.48.065.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 48.48.065 and 1995 c 369 s 29 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) The chief of each organized fire department, or the sheriff or other designated county official having jurisdiction over areas not within the jurisdiction of any fire department, shall report statistical information and data to the chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection, on each fire occurring within the official's jurisdiction and, within forty-eight hours, report any death resulting from fire.  Reports shall be consistent with the national fire incident reporting system developed by the United States fire administration and rules established by the chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection.  The chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection, and the department of natural resources shall jointly determine the statistical information to be reported on fires on land under the jurisdiction of the department of natural resources.

    (2) The chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection, shall analyze the information and data reported, compile a report, and distribute a copy annually by ((May)) July 1st to each chief fire official in the state.  Upon request, the chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection, shall also furnish a copy of the report to any other interested person at cost.

    (3) In carrying out the duties relating to collecting, analyzing, and reporting statistical fire data, the fire protection policy board may purchase statistical fire data from a qualified individual or organization.  The information shall meet the diverse needs of state and local fire reporting agencies and shall be (a) defined in understandable terms of common usage in the fire community; (b) adaptable to the varying levels of resources available; (c) maintained in a manner that will foster both technical support and resource sharing; and (d) designed to meet both short and long-term needs.

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