RS 3:4279 Railroad and other public utilities' rights of way; clearing of combustible material; fire lines; penalty - Louisiana Statutes

§4279.  Railroad and other public utilities' rights of way; clearing of combustible material; fire lines; penalty

A.  All persons owning or operating railroads, electric transmission lines, or oil or gas pipe lines through forest lands within this state shall keep their rights of way cleared of all combustible material and safely dispose of the same within the limits of the rights of way between the fifteenth of November and the fifteenth of April.  In addition, whenever in the judgment of the commission any of the rights of way are not of sufficient width to constitute, when cleared, an adequate fire line, the commission may require the owners or operators thereof to enter upon forest, waste, or cut-over lands adjacent to the rights of way, and at not more than two hundred feet from the outer rail on both sides of the track in the case of a railway right of way, and not more than two hundred feet from the center of the right of way of a person owning or operating electric transmission lines or oil or gas pipe lines, to plough a furrow not less than three nor more than six feet in width, and to clear the strip lying between the furrow and the right of way in the same manner as required in case of the right of way.

This requirement does not apply in the case of temporary spurs or railroads and tramroads, nor shall in any case lands in actual cultivation be entered upon in carrying out these requirements.

However, any person thus required to plough a furrow is relieved of any responsibility for damages which the owner of the land may claim as a result thereof.

B.  No railroad company shall permit its employees to leave a deposit of fire or live coals on its rights of way, other than between the rails, in the immediate vicinity of woodland or lands subject to being overrun by fire.  Engineers, conductors, or trainmen who discover that fences or other materials along the right of way of woodlands adjacent to the railroad are burning or in danger from fire shall report the same promptly at the next telegraph station they pass.  In seasons of drouth persons owning or operating railroads, electric transmission lines, oil or gas pipe lines through forest lands shall give particular instructions to their section foremen, right of way foreman, line riders, and other employees employed on or about the rights of way for the prevention and prompt extinguishment of fires originating on their respective rights of way, and shall cause warning placards, furnished by the commissioner to be posted at their stations in the vicinity of the forest lands.

C.  Whoever wilfully violates this Section shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense, and any employee of such railroad or pipe line company wilfully violating this Section shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars.

However, this Section does not prohibit any railroad company from piling or keeping upon the right of way cross ties or other material necessary in the operation or maintenance of the railroad.