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Appointment of an investigation commissionerPursuant to the Fire Safety Act (R.S.Q., chapter S-3.4), the Government shall appoint fire investigation commissioners and, if needed, substitute fire investigation commissioners. The instrument of appointment of a fire investigation commissioner may determine a territory to which the commissionner is assigned. In exceptional cases, the Minister may appoint a fire investigation commissioner to investigate a particular fire or series of similar fires. The remuneration, employee benefits and other conditions of employment of fire investigation commissioners shall be determined by the Government, and the necessary sums shall be paid out of the appropriations granted each year to the Minister by the National Assembly, subject to the exceptions provided for in the charters of the cities of Québec and Montréal with regard to the fire investigation commissioners appointed for those cities. The fire chief of the fire safety service that directed the emergency response operations or, if there was no intervention, the secretary-treasurer or clerk of the local municipality in whose territory the fire occurred shall notify the competent fire investigation commissioner as soon as practicable: 1° if the point of origin and the probable causes of the fire have not been determined; 2° if the circumstances of a fire are unclear; or 3° if a connection seems to exist between the probable causes or the circumstances of the fire and other fires. The fire investigation commissioner shall, on his or her initiative or on the Minister's request, conduct an investigation to determine the point of origin, probable causes and circumstances of any fire in the commissioner's area of jurisdiction or to examine the causes or circumstances of the fire if there is any connection with other fires. An inquiry concerning the point of origin, probable causes or circumstances of a fire or concerning any connection with other fires may be initiated if the fire investigation commissioner is of the opinion, following his or her investigation, that an inquiry would be expedient and would not impede the progress of any current police investigation. An inquiry must be held by the fire investigation commissioner whenever the Minister so requests.
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2004-08-11 3:02 PM