New South Wales Consolidated Acts

FIRE BRIGADES ACT 1989 - SECT 40

40 Charges for attending fires or hazardous material incidents

(1) Except as provided by this section, no charge is to be made for the attendance at a fire of any members of a fire brigade.

(2) If a fire occurs in any building, vehicle, vessel or property outside a fire district to which this Act applies, the Commissioner is entitled to recover, for services rendered by any members of a fire brigade in endeavouring to extinguish the fire or save life or property, charges not exceeding the prescribed charges.

(3) Those charges may be recovered from:

(a) the owner of the building, vehicle or property, or

(b) the master or owner of the vessel and the cargo and freight for the vessel.

(4) The amount of those charges is not to exceed 20 per cent of the value before the fire of the building, vessel, cargo and freight or property.

(4A) If a hazardous material incident occurs anywhere in the State, the Commissioner is entitled to recover charges, not exceeding the prescribed charges, for services rendered by any members of a fire brigade in endeavouring:

(a) to confine or end the incident, or to render the site of the incident safe, or

(b) to save any lives or property in danger.

(4B) Those charges may be recovered from:

(a) the owner of, or the person having charge of, the hazardous material involved, or

(b) the owner or occupier of the premises on which, or the owner or person in charge of the vehicle or vessel on or in which, or arising out of the use of which, the incident occurred.

(4C) This section does not allow recovery of charges for a fire within a fire district even though the fire arose from a hazardous material incident.

(5) This section binds the Crown in right of the State and also, in so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.