Chap. 314.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 538 of the Code of Vir-
ginia, as modified by chapter 145 of the acts of assembly of 1918; also
sections 545 and 546-a of the Code of Virginia, as amended by chapter 505
of the acts of assembly of 1926; and to add two new sections to the Code,
to be designated as sections 541-a and 545-a, all concerning forest fires.

[H B 60]
Approved March 24, 1930

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
five hundred and thirty-eight of the Code of Virginia, as modified by
chapter one hundred and forty-five of the acts of assembly of nine-
teen hundred and eighteen; also sections five hundred and forty-five
and five hundred and forty-six-a of the Code of Virginia, as amended
by chapter five hundred and five of the acts of assembly of nineteen
hundred and twenty-six, be amended and two new sections added to
the Code, to be designated as sections five hundred and forty-one-a
and five hundred and forty-five-a, all of which shall be made to read
as follows:

Section 538. The State forester shall distribute notices, printed in
large letters on cloth, or other suitable material, calling attention to
the danger of forest fires and to the forest fire laws, and to trespass
laws and their penalties, which notices shall be distributed by the State
forester to forest wardens, and to owners of timberland, to be posted
by them in conspicuous places. Any person other than a forest warden
or the owner of the land on which such notices shall be posted, who
shall tear down, mutilate or deface any such notice shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and punished, upon conviction, by a fine of ten dollars
for each offense.

Section 54l-a. Any forest warden to whom written instructions
have been issued by the State forester authorizing him to employ per-
sons to assist in suppressing forest fires, shall have the authority to
summon as many ablebodied male persons between eighteen and fifty
years of age as may, in his discretion, be reasonably necessary to assist
in extinguishing any forest fire which may burn in any county of this
State which is organized for forest fire control under the direction of
the State forester. Any person so summoned by a forest warden to
fight a forest fire shall be paid for such service at such rate of pay as
is provided for in the State forest service wage scale for fire fighting
in effect in the county, or part thereof, in which the fire is fought.
Provided that such warden shall not summon for such service any per-
son while engaged in the duties of maintaining the rights of way of rail-
roads in a safe condition for the passage of trains, nor any station
agent, operator or other person while engaged in duties necessary for
the safe operation of such trains.

‘Any person so summoned who shall fail or refuse to assist in fight-
ing such fire, unless such failure is due to physical inability or other
good and valid reason, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con-
viction, shall be fined not more than twenty-five dollars.

Section 545-a. Whoever shall build a fire in the open air, or use a
fire built by another in the open air within one hundred and fifty feet
of any woodland, brushland or field containing dry grass or other in-
flammable material, shall, before leaving such fire untended, totally
extinguish it.

Any person failing to do so shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than one hundred dollars.
Whenever it shall be established that a forest fire originated from such
fire, the person building or using such fire shall, in addition to the
above penalty, be liable for the full amount of all costs incurred in
suppressing the fire.

Section 546-a. Any individual, firm, or corporation responsible
for the operation, in, through or near forest or brushland, of a saw-
mill, stave mill, heading mill, or any other mill, shall clean the premises
for at least a distance of fifty yards in all directions from any fires
maintained in or about, or in connection with the operation of said mill
and for a distance of one hundred feet in all directions from any saw-
dust pile, slab pile, or any other inflammable material which accumu-
lates from the operation of said mill, of all matter not essential to the
operation of said mill which is liable to take fire from any sparks
emitted from said fires. When any such person, firm, or corporation
shall remove said mill, or cease to operate it for a period of ten consec-
utive days, he shall totally extinguish any fire which may be burning
in any sawdust pile, slab pile or other debris which may have accumu-
lated from the operation of said mill, unless the owner of the land on
which such fire is located shall, in writing, assume responsibility for
the control of the fire. Any person, firm, or corporation violating any
of the provisions of this section shall be fined ten dollars for each of-
fense. Each day or fraction thereof on which any such mill shall
be operated in violation of the provisions of this section and each day
or fraction thereof on which fire is allowed to burn in any sawdust
pile, slab pile or other inflammable debris in violation of the provisions
of this section, shall be deemed a separate offense. Whenever it shall
be established that a forest fire originated from a fire maintained in or
about any such mill, the individual, firm, or corporation, from whose
mill any such fire originated shall immediately become liable for all
costs incurred in fighting said fire.