OFFICE OFTHE ATTORNEY GENERALOFTEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable WaryIn Rail
Fire fnmzranor cod88ioner
Board of Insurance CommIssIonerr / ~.'~ I:
Austin, Texas
Dear Sir:
'~E8o&gq,.iew~~aaagainst churoheo and
ihyday ~?I6001 bull&in&&
owl&& r&eipt 0f your letter 0r
aa to whethar
as ex offloio Sta.%a Fir0
the Tome Fire
\ *Tba q$etlon hae arieon whether ohurohas and
&nd&&ohaol Eduoatlonal Bulldlnge are eubjsot to
tb& prmlelons or theas artloler.
L
Tour opinion Ie requested a8 to whether these
ar$ialar are applicable to euoh bulldloSs.R
Title 03 of' the Ravleod Clvll Statutes of Texas, coin-
pored of Article8 '3955-3972,. both lnoluslve, Ir known a8 the
Biro Esoaps Lew. All euah srtlolea are taken from House Bill
$lg;, Aots, 1923, Thirty-Eighth Lsgltiture, Chaptar 170, Pge
.
.
773
Honorable Marvin Hall, age 2
Article 3956 thereof reads:
“For each hospital, seminary, oollege, academy,
sohool house, dormitory, hotel, lodging house, agart-
msnt house, rooming house, boarding house, house for
the aocomodation of transient guests, lodge hall,
theatre, gubllo plaoe of amusement, or hall or plaoe
used for public gatherings, having a lot area in ex-
oeaa of five thousand square feet, there shall be pro-
vided one additional adequate flrt, ercape for eaoh
five thoumend square feet of such exoea~ or fraotlon
thereof If suoh fraction exoeeds two thousand aquare
feet.*
Article 3971 of the same title provldee that the
state Fire &r8hal or other offloerrs named thsreln shall ln-
apclot all fire esoapea, extensions and addltlonr to tire QB-
cape8 aonstruetsd under the provisions of such law.
Since ohurohee and Sunday School buildings are not
speolflcally mentioned in the not, your question la reoelred
into the proposition of whether or not ohurohsa and Sunday
School Bulldlllga oonstltute e *. . . hall or plaoe used for
publlo gatherings. . i W within the purview of Artlole 3956,
mpra .
It is a matter of oommon knowledge that the pub110
generally is invited and enocureged to attend ohuroh and
Sunday School irrsspeotlra of membership ‘In the particular
ohurch.
A reading
of iihe caption of the orlglml act manl-
feats e legislativedesire for the ereotlon and proper maln-
tenance of fire ssoapes adequate to properly protect human
lips in all buildings of certain height and elze. A reading
of that portion thereof, now known as Arti 3936, sup=,
leads us to the oonalualon that they were especially oon-
cerned with the safety of persons assembled at public gather-
ings in buildings of the dimensions presorlbed in Artiale
3956, suFa.
It In our opinion that ohurohes and Sunday Sohool
eduoetlonal buildlugs era balls or places used for pub110
774
Honorable Mervin Hell, Page 3
gatherings within the purvir+w of A~rtlole 3956, supra and
that you are charged by law with the enforoement of ihe
provisions of Title 63, supra.
Yours very truly
ATXJRWEY
GENEIL4L
OF TEXAS
Lloyd Armstrong
Asdstant
LA:AW
VEDOC';25, 1940
I
ATTORNEY
GENERAL
OP Tms