HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 0381OR Ih,A2, CE NO. 30
AN ORDINIU CE OF THE CITY OF BURLINGAME
ELATING TO AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS
The City Council of the City of Burlingame does hereby
ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. As used in this ordinance the following
words and phrases shall mem :
"Air raid warning signal" shall mean a signal, by siren,
whistle, horn or other audible device, of two minutes duration
consisting of either a fluctuating or warbling signal of varying
pitch or a succession of intermittent blasts of about five seconds
duration separated by a silent period of about three seconds.
"All clear signal" shall mean a continuous signal, by
siren, horn or other audible device, of two minutes duration at
a steady pitch.
"Period of air raid alarm" shall mean the interval of
time between the giving of the air raid warning signal and the
giving of the next succeeding all clear signal.
"Blackout structure" shall mean any space so enclosed
that any illumination maintained or existing therein is not
visible from any point outside such enclosure.
SECTION 2. Phe Chief of Police is hereby authorized andl
directed to cause the, sounding of an air raid warning signal and
of an all clear signal when, and only when, the district in which
the city is located is notified so to do by the United States
Aircraft -Darning Service.
SECTION 3. Any person who effects or maintains any
illumination, or permits any illumination under his control to be
effected or maintained, at any place within the City of
Burlingame during any period of air raid alarm in the hours of
darkness, except within a blackout structure, shall be guilty of
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a misdemeanor.
SECTION 4. The maintenance or leaving of any illumina-
tion, except within a blackout structure, without provision for
its extinguishment, within one minute after the commencement of a
period of air raid alarm by a competent person over the age of
eighteen years attendant at the place where such illumination is
controlled, is hereby prohibited.
SECTION 5. In order to enable the Chief of Police to
conform to the request of the United States ,Aircraft learning
Service for the obscuration, diminution or extinguishment of any
illumination, whether in or out of doors, which increases the
vulnerability of the City of Burlingame, or any portion thereof,
to air attack, or for the regulation of traffic during the period
of air raid alarm, the Chief of Police may adopt and promulgate
reasonable rules and regulations for such purposes, and any rules
or regulations so adopted by him shall be and remain in effect for
thirty (30) days thereafter, but no longer unless approved within
said time by resolution of the City Council; provided, however,
that any rule or regulation so adopted by the Chief of Police may
at any time be rescinded by resolution of the City Council.
Violation of any such rule or regulation so adopted and promulgated
is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor.
SECTION 6. It shall be unlawful to disobey any lawful
ection or order of a peace officer, highway patrolman, or
given during a period of air raid alarm, which order is
sonably necessary for the maintenance of public order or safety
to effect the extinguishment or obscuration of light.
SECTION 7. Any illumination contrary to the provisions
this ordinance, or to any rule or regulation adopted and pro-
lgated in accordance with Section 5 hereof, constitutes apublic
.isance, and the same may be summarily abated by any peace
fiver, highway patrolman, or fireman. Any structure may be
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entered by any peace officer, highway patrolman, or fireman, using
reasonable force if necessary, for the purpose of abating such a
nuisance by extinguishing such illumination.
SECTION 8. At the commencement of a period of air raid
alarm, the operator of any motor vehicle shall forthwith bring
such vehicle as far as possible to the side of the street, road
or highway off the main traveled portion thereof, and the
operator of such motor vehicle, and the operator of any street
car, shall bring such motor vehicle or street car to a stop clear
of any crossing, intersection, fire house, fire plug, hospital
or other emergency depot or area, and during the hours of dark-
ness shall extinguish all lights therein or thereon and said
motor vehicle or street car shall remain so situated during the
period of air raid alarm, unless directed or ordered to move by
a peace officer, highway patrolman, or fireman.
SECTION 9. The provisions of this ordinance shall not
apply to blackout emergency vehicles, which shall include the
following:
(1)
All
Army and
Navy
vehicles;
(2)
All
vehicles
with
United States Government
credentials indicating the necessity of emergency movement;
(3) All authorized emergency vehicles as defined in
Sections 44 and 44.1 of the Vehicle Code of California;
(4) All vehicles being operated by members of the
California State Guard while actually on duty;
(5) All vehicles of volunteer personnel engaged in the
operation of the aircraft warning service of the Fourth Inter-
ceptor Command while such personnel are actually going to or from
their posts of duty;
(6) All vehicles certified by sheriffs, district
attorneys, the California State Highway Patrol, police chiefs,
and fire chiefs, when within the respective territorial juris-
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dletions of the certifying office, as being essential to the
preservation of the public peace and safety or to the dessemina-
tion of public information or to the national defense; provided,
however, that such vehicles shall conform to the uniform lighting
regulations approved by the Department of totor Vehicles and the
California State Highway Patrol for blackout emergency vehicles.
No certificate shall be issued which conflicts with any regu-
lation or order of the United States Army applicable in the area
for which the certificate is issued.
SECTION 10. It shall be unlawful for any person with-
out authority, during any air raid alarm, to use, wear, exhibit
or possess any uniform, insignia, credential, or other indica-
tion or authority, or any imitation thereof, adopted and issued
by any official civilian defense organization.
SECTION 11. Any person who shall operate a siren,
whistle or other audible device in such a manner as to simulate
an air raid warning signal or an all clear signal, except upon
order of the Chief of Police, or other proper authority, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor.
SECTION 12. The provisions of every ordinance of this
city and every administrative order made pursuant thereto,
requiring any illumination to be maintained in conflict with this
ordinance or with any rule or regulation made pursuant to Section
5 of this ordinance, shall be deemed suspended during the period
between any air raid warning signal and the next succeeding all
clear signal.
SECTION 13. Any person who shall violate any provision
of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding
Three Hundred Dollars (;'300.00) or by imprisonment in the County
Jail not exceeding three (3) months, or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
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SECTION la. This ordinance is required for the imme-
diate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and
the following is the statement of facts constituting such urgency:
The United States is at war and this city is in great and con-
tinuing danger of air and other attack by the enemy.
SECTION 15. If any provision of this ordinance or the
application thereof to any person or circumstances is held
invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or
applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without
the invalid provision or application, and to this end the pro-
visions of this ordinance are declared to be severable.
SECTION 16. This ordinance, because of the emergency
herein referred to, shall become effective immediately upon its
adoption and shall be published once in the Burlingame Advance -
Star, a newspeper of general circulation published within the
city.
The foregoing Ordinance was introduced at a regular
meeting of the City Council of the City of Burlingame held on
December 15, 1941, and adopted at a regular meeting of the said
City Council held on December 22, 1941, by the following vote:
Ayes: Councilmen : Buck - Burrows - Hunt - McDonald
Noes: Councilmen : None
Absent: Councilmen : Coleman
ATTEST:
BI TY CLER
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