1915 Pa. Act 353 | Pennsylvania Act 1915-353 — FOREST FIRE PROTECTION LAW

Act text

FOREST FIRE PROTECTION LAW
	Act of Jun. 3, 1915, P.L. 797, No. 353	Cl. 32

AN ACT

To establish a Bureau of Forest Protection within the Department of Forestry; designating the officers who shall constitute the Bureau, their duties and salaries; prescribing penalties for the violation thereof; and repealing all laws, general, special, or local, or any parts thereof, that may be inconsistent with or supplied by this act.

Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That a Bureau of Forest Protection is hereby established within the Department of Forestry. The persons appointed thereto or assigned to duty therein shall be subject to the authority and under the control of the Commissioner of Forestry.

ARTICLE I.

Chief Forest Fire-Warden.

(Art. repealed except for clauses (h) and

(j) of section 102 June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Compiler's Note: Section 302(h) of Act 18 of 1995, which created the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and renamed the Department of Environmental Resources as the Department of Environmental Protection, provided that the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources shall exercise the powers and duties conferred upon the Commissioner of Forestry, the Department of Forests and Waters and the Bureau of Forest Protection by Article I.

Section 101. Appointment.--(101 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 102. Duties:--

(h) He shall plan and put into effect as rapidly as convenient a system of fire towers, observation stations, and a system of telephone lines which shall cover the regions subject to forest fires; and for such purposes he may purchase the necessary material and equipment to build and maintain such towers, stations, and lines, and hire the necessary labor for the installation of such systems. In maintaining systems of telephone lines he is authorized to buy or lease any existing lines. He may permit the attachment of telephones of persons, firms, and corporations on such lines, under such conditions, and for such rental, as may be agreed upon; and shall, through the Commissioner of Forestry, deposit all moneys so received with the State Treasurer, which shall be placed into the fund appropriated for forest protection purposes; and such moneys shall be available upon requisition of the Commissioner of Forestry for the extension, maintenance, and upkeep of such telephone lines, and for such purposes such moneys are hereby specifically appropriated: Provided, That there shall be no competition by the Department of Forestry in telephone service with any commercial telephone company. ((h) amended May 7, 1923, P.L.140, No.106)

(j) He may enter into agreements, with the consent of the Commissioner of Forestry, with persons, firms, corporations, or associations, upon satisfactory terms, for the successful accomplishment of forest fire prevention or control. He is authorized to receive from any person, firms, corporations, or associations contributions for the prevention and control of forest fires. All such contributions shall be paid into the State Treasury, and shall be credited by the State Treasurer to the fund of the Department of Forestry for forest protection purposes; and such moneys are hereby specifically appropriated to the said Department of Forestry for the purposes for which such fund is appropriated, and for the purpose of making refunds to contributors of amounts severally paid in by them in excess of their obligations, respectively, under such agreements. ((j) amended Apr. 26, 1923, P.L.92, No.67)

(102 repealed except for clauses (h) and (j), June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 103. Compensation.--(103 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

ARTICLE II.

Clerical Assistants.

(Art. repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 201. (201 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

ARTICLE III.

District Fire-Warden.

(Art. repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 301. Appointment.--(301 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 302. Duties.--(302 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 303. Compensation.--(303 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

ARTICLE IV.

Local Forest Fire-Wardens.

(Art. repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 401. Qualifications.--(401 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 402. Appointment.--(402 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 403. Certificates of Appointments.--(403 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 404. Duties.--(404 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

Section 405. Compensation.--(405 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

ARTICLE V.

Special and Ex Officio Forest Fire-Wardens.

Section 501. The chief forest fire-warden may appoint persons who will serve without compensation as special or as ex officio forest fire-wardens. They shall have the same power and authority as local forest fire-wardens, but their duties may be changed or extended by the chief forest fire-warden.

Section 502. Foresters and rangers in the employ of the Department of Forestry shall be forest fire-wardens ex officio.

Section 503. Special and ex officio forest fire-wardens shall receive no compensation under this act, other than the necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties as fire-wardens.

ARTICLE VI.

General Powers.

Section 601. A fire-warden shall have authority to employ such other persons as, in his judgment, may be necessary to render assistance in extinguishing fire; and, whenever it shall not otherwise be possible for him to secure a sufficient number of persons to assist in extinguishing fire, he is hereby authorized to compel the attendance of persons and to require them to render assistance in the extinguishing of fire, under penalties prescribed in this act.

Section 602. A fire-warden shall have authority to administer an oath or affirmation, in order to examine any person who he believes knows facts relating to any fire, or who claims compensation for services rendered.

Section 603. Every official provided for by this act shall have authority to enter upon any land at any time for the purpose of performing duties in accordance herewith.

Section 604. A fire-warden shall have power to arrest on view, without first procuring a warrant, any person detected by him in the act of committing an offense against any of the laws now enacted or hereafter to be enacted for the protection of forests, wood-lots, timber, or wild lands, or when he shall have a reasonable suspicion that any person is committing or is about to commit some such offense. The warden shall have further power to take the offender before a justice of the peace, or other magistrate having jurisdiction, for hearing, trial, or other due process of law. The further conduct of any such case shall be entrusted to, and be undertaken by, the Attorney General.

Compiler's Note: Section 28 of Act 207 of 2004 provided that any and all references in any other law to a "district justice" or "justice of the peace" shall be deemed to be references to a magisterial district judge.

Section 605. A fire-warden shall not be personally liable for any act required or permitted to be done under the provisions of this law, while acting within the scope of his duties as a fire-warden.

ARTICLE VII.

Private Persons.

Section 701. Forest Fire-fighters.--Persons who extinguish or help to extinguish forest fires, except as otherwise provided, shall be paid at a rate per hour to be determined for each forest fire district by the chief forest fire-warden, with the approval of the Commissioner of Forestry, and based upon the rates of wages received for day labor within the respective forest fire districts; provided the rate does not exceed forty cents per hour.

(701 amended May 17, 1921, P.L.854, No.299)

Section 702. Appeal to the Commissioner of Forestry.--If any person shall feel aggrieved by the act of any fire-warden, such person may appeal to the Commissioner of Forestry, who will examine into the complaint. After hearing the parties he shall decide as to him shall seem just and right.

Section 703. Land Owners.--Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to relieve the owner or lessee of lands, upon which fires may burn or be started, from the duty of extinguishing such fire so far as may lie within his power.

No owner or lessee of land upon which fire may burn or be started, nor any person during employment with such owner or lessee, nor any other person with a present vested interest in such land, shall receive compensation under this act for extinguishing fire upon his land or the land to which his interest is attached: Provided, however, That this provision shall not apply to the extinguishing of fires on lands which are listed with the Department of Forestry under agreement for the better protection, management, and development of such land for the present and future timber supply, and where the expenditure on the part of the landowner for such purpose shall be not less than ten cents per acre per year, of which assessments paid to any protection association, cooperating with the Department of Forestry, may be a part.

No person who is responsible for the spreading of a fire to a woodlot forest, or wild land, nor any person in his employ, may receive compensation from a fire warden for helping to extinguish such fire.

(703 amended Apr. 26, 1923, P.L.91, No.66)

ARTICLE VIII.

Railroads.

Section 801. All steam and electric railroad companies owning or operating lines of railroad within the State shall put into effect such reasonable regulations for the prevention of forest fire as may be deemed necessary by the chief forest fire-warden, providing the regulations be approved by the Public Service Commission.

ARTICLE IX.

Expenses.

Section 901. Expenses incurred under this act shall be paid from the general forest protection appropriation.

Section 902. No bills of expense relating to the protection of forests from fire, incurred under this act, shall be honored by the chief forest fire-warden unless presented to him within sixty days after the expense has been incurred.

Section 903. The Auditor General shall satisfy himself as to the correctness of all bills transmitted to him by the Commissioner of Forestry for expense incurred under this act, and shall then draw his warrants against the general forest protection appropriation in favor of the persons and for the amounts shown by the approved bills.

ARTICLE X.

Penalties.

Section 1001. Penalty for Neglect of Duty.--If a fire warden shall fail to perform his duty, or shall render a false or fraudulent statement of service alleged to have been performed, or shall fail to pay promptly the respective amounts due those who have rendered service, after said amounts have been transmitted to him, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or undergo imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, in the discretion of the court.

(1001 amended Apr. 26, 1923, P.L.93, No.68)

Section 1002. Penalty for Refusing to Aid a Fire-Warden.--If any fire warden, being in need of assistance in the suppression of fire, shall call upon any person to render assistance, and such person shall refuse without a just and fair excuse he shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding before any magistrate, alderman, or justice of the peace, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and, in default of the payment of such fine and costs, be imprisoned in the county jail one day for each dollar of fine and costs unpaid, not, however, exceeding thirty days.

(1002 amended Apr. 26, 1923, P.L.93, No.68)

Section 1003. Penalty for Hindering an Officer in His Duties.--A person who shall prevent or obstruct, or attempt to prevent or obstruct, a fire warden or ex officio fire warden in the performance of a duty required by this act, or the exercise of the rights of entry, access, or examination by any warden or officer of this bureau, shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding before any magistrate, alderman, or justice of the peace, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and, in default of the payment of such fine and costs, be imprisoned in the county jail one day for each dollar of fine and costs unpaid, not, however, exceeding thirty days.

(1003 amended Apr. 26, 1923, P.L.93, No.68)

Section 1004. Penalty for Non-Abatements or Removal of Nuisance.--(1004 repealed Apr. 11, 1929, P.L.515, No.219)

Section 1005. Penalty for Causing Fire On or Within Woodlots, Forests, or Wild Lands.--(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to set fire to, or to cause to be set on fire, either accidentally or otherwise, directly or indirectly, in person or by agent, any woodlot, forest, or wild land, or property, material, or vegetation being or growing thereon, without permission of the owner, either by dropping lighted matches, tobacco, or other substances, or in any other manner whatsoever; or to start fires anywhere and permit them to spread to woodlots, forest, or wild land, thereby causing damage to or destruction of such property, as aforesaid.

It shall be unlawful to use fire for the purpose of smoking out birds, bees, animals, or any other creature, from hollow trees, logs, or subterranean holes or caverns, when by so doing the fire may or does spread to adjoining or neighboring woodlots, forest, or wild lands.

Any person violating any of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined for each offense not exceeding five hundred dollars, or undergo imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, in the discretion of the court.

(b) If any person shall maliciously set fire to, or cause to be set on fire, directly or indirectly, in person or by agent any woodlot, forest, or wild land, or property, material, or vegetation, being or growing thereon, such person shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and be imprisoned in a penitentiary for a period not exceeding ten years.

(d) The term "person," as used in paragraph (a) of this section, shall include individuals, associations, partnerships, limited partnerships, joint-stock companies, or corporations, and their officers, agents, or employes.

(e) The terms "woodlot," "forest," or "wild land," in this section, are intended to include woods, farmers' woodlots, marshes, brush barrens, brush lands, and wild, unseated, uncultivated land.

(f) The term "set" shall cover all manner of ways in which woodlot, forest, or wild land fires may be started, either by direct act, or by an appliance, or by indirection.

(1005 amended May 4, 1927, P.L.737, No.381)

Section 1006. Every steam and electric railroad company, owning or operating lines of railroad within the State, which shall neglect or refuse to put into effect such reasonable regulations for the prevention of forest fire as may be deemed necessary by the chief forest fire-warden and approved by the Public Service Commission, shall forfeit and pay to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for each neglect or refusal, the sum of one hundred dollars, to be recovered by an action of assumpsit, instituted in the name of the Commonwealth by the Attorney General. (Par. repealed in part Apr. 28, 1978, P.L.202, No.53)

Every day's continuance in refusal to comply with such regulations, after a notice from the chief forest fire-warden and the lapse of a reasonable length of time for compliance therewith, which time shall be fixed in the notice, shall be a separate and distinct offense.

Section 1007. Disposition of Fines.--Moneys received from the payment of fines shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which suit is brought, for the use of the county, except as otherwise provided in this act.

Section 1009. Penalty for Mutilating Notices.--Any person who shall, without authority, destroy, deface, or remove any notice, sign, or poster of the Department of Forests and Waters, posted for the better protection of woodlots, forests, or wild lands from fire, shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding before any magistrate, alderman, or justice of the peace, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding ten dollars, and, in default of the payment of such fine and costs, be imprisoned in the county jail one day for each dollar of fine and costs unpaid.

(1009 amended Apr. 7, 1925, P.L.158, No.116)

ARTICLE XI.

Section 1101. When, in the judgment of the Commissioner of Forestry, he deems it necessary for general forest protection that causes or agencies injurious to trees and forests, other than fire, be investigated, reported upon, or abated, he is hereby authorized to assign to the Bureau of Forest Protection persons competent for such work. The salaries of such persons, so assigned, shall be fixed by the Commissioner of Forestry, and shall in no case exceed the ordinary and usual amount paid for such services. Salaries and expenses shall be paid out of the general forest protection appropriation.

ARTICLE XII.

Section 1202. Definitions.--(a) The term "person," as used in this act, shall include not only individuals or natural persons, but as well artificial persons existing only in contemplation of law, and shall be construed to mean associations, partnerships, limited partnerships, joint-stock companies, and corporations, and their officers, agents, and employes.

(b) The terms "woodlot," "forest," or "wild land," in this act, are intended to include woods, farmers' woodlots, marshes, brush, barrens, brush lands, wild unseated uncultivated land, and any land which has enough inflammable debris to constitute, in the judgment of the chief forest fire warden, a menace to life or property.

(c) The term "set" shall cover all manner of ways in which woodlot, forest, or wild land fires may be started, either by direct act or by an appliance or by indirection.

(d) The term "nuisance," as used in this act, shall include and apply to (1) unprotected woodlots, forests, or wild lands covered wholly or in part by inflammable debris, or otherwise likely to further the spread of fire, which by reason of location or condition or lack of protection endangers life and property when adjoining, lying near to, or intermingling with other woodlots, forests, or wild lands; (2) movable and stationary engines of all kinds whenever their location, condition, or operation endangers by fire any woodlots, forests, or wild lands; (3) a fire on or within woodlots, forests, or wild lands, burning uncontrolled or without sufficient precaution being taken to prevent its spread.

(e) The plural shall, whenever the context warrants, include the singular; and the singular, the plural.

(1202 added Apr. 26, 1923, P.L.95, No.69)

Pennsylvania Act 1915-353 — FOREST FIRE PROTECTION LAW

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