Section 138. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—

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”Chief”, the chief of the Joint Base Cape Cod fire department.

”Department”, the Joint Base Cape Cod fire department.

”Joint Base Cape Cod”, approximately 22,000 acres of land owned by the commonwealth in Barnstable county established under chapter 196 of the acts of 1935 and used primarily for military purposes.

(b) There shall be within the military division a Joint Base Cape Cod fire department. The department shall provide air crash crew and fire protection services on the Joint Base Cape Cod. The department shall be under the supervision and control of the chief of the Joint Base Cape Cod fire department.

The chief shall be appointed by the adjutant general and may be removed by the adjutant general for cause after a hearing. The chief shall have charge of extinguishing fires on the Joint Base Cape Cod and the protection of life and property in the event of fire, aircraft mishap or explosion. The chief shall enforce all applicable state and federal fire laws and codes. The chief shall purchase, subject to the approval of the adjutant general or the adjutant general’s designee, and maintain all apparatus used by the fire department and shall make other necessary expenditures subject to such further limitations as the adjutant general or the adjutant general’s designee may prescribe.

The chief shall enter into mutual aid agreements with surrounding cities and towns as necessary. The chief shall have and exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties conferred or imposed by statute upon engineers in towns, except as otherwise provided by chapter 48. The chief shall appoint a deputy chief and such officers and firefighters as the chief considers necessary and may remove the deputy chief, officers and firefighters for cause after a hearing, subject to any applicable collective bargaining agreement. The chief, deputy chief, officers and firefighters shall be civilian employees of the military division and shall not be subject to General Laws establishing a civil service system. New uniformed members of the department shall be subject to sections 61A and 61B of chapter 31.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the chief shall administer the department. The chief shall make rules and regulations for its operation, shall report annually to the adjutant general or the adjutant general’s designee on the condition of the department and at such other times as the adjutant general or the adjutant general’s designee shall request.