10.1-1144 - Failure to clean premises of certain mills.
§ 10.1-1144. Failure to clean premises of certain mills.
Any individual, firm, or corporation responsible for the operation of a sawmill, stave mill, heading mill, or any other mill in, through or near forestor brushland shall clean the premises for at least a distance of fifty yardsin all directions from any fires maintained in or about, or in connectionwith the operation of such mill. The premises shall also be cleaned for adistance of 100 feet in all directions from any sawdust pile, slab pile, orany other inflammable material which accumulates from the operation of suchmill, or all matter not essential to the operation of such mill, which isliable to take fire from any sparks emitted from such fires. When any mill isremoved or ceases to operate for a period of ten consecutive days, any firewhich may be burning in any sawdust pile, slab pile or other debris shall betotally extinguished unless the owner of the land on which such fire islocated assumes in writing responsibility for the control of the fire. Anyperson, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this sectionshall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. Each day or fraction thereof onwhich any such mill is operated in violation of the provisions of thissection and each day or fraction thereof on which fire is allowed to burn inany sawdust pile, slab pile or other inflammable debris in violation of theprovisions of this section, shall be deemed a separate offense.
Whenever it is established that a forest fire originated from a firemaintained in or about any such mill, the individual, firm, or corporation,from whose mill any such fire originated shall immediately become liable forall costs incurred in fighting such fire.
(Code 1950, § 10-64; 1986, c. 188; 1988, c. 891.)