13:9-20 - Burning forest; permit; back fires; liability; recreational or permitted fire; precautions - New Jersey Statutes

13:9-20.  Burning forest;  permit;  back fires;  liability; recreational or  permitted fire;  precautions
    No person shall, unless granted a permit by the department, set fire to or burn, or cause to be burned, any forest, but nothing in this section shall be interpreted to forbid any person from setting a back fire upon his own property  to protect the same;  but, if such permitted back fire be allowed to escape or  does escape to adjoining property, the person setting such back fire, or  causing it to be set, shall be subject to costs of extinguishment and all  damage incurred upon the property of another.  Any firewarden, however, shall  have power to set any back fire.  Any person maintaining a recreational fire or  a permitted fire or a fire to burn any brush, grass, litter, undergrowth or  other material shall keep and maintain a competent watch.  All reasonable  precautions must be taken to prevent its escape from control.  No such fire  shall be left until extinguished or certified by a firewarden to be safely  contained.

     Amended by L.1981, c. 369, s. 25, eff. Dec. 30, 1981.