                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

LIABILITY AND RECOVERY OF COST OF FIGHTING FOREST FIRES BY LOCALITIES AND THE
STATE FORESTER (§ 10.1-1141)

A. The State Forester in the name of the Commonwealth shall collect the costs of
firefighting performed under the direction of a forest warden in accordance with
&#xA7; 10.1-1139 from any person who, negligently or intentionally without using
reasonable care and precaution starts a fire or who negligently or intentionally
fails to prevent its escape, which fire burns on any forestland, brushland,
grassland or wasteland. Such person shall be liable for the full amount of all
expenses incurred by the Commonwealth, for fighting or extinguishing such fire.
All expenses collected shall be credited to the Forestry Operations Fund. It
shall be the duty of the Commonwealth&#8217;s attorneys to institute and
prosecute proper proceedings under this section, at the instance of the State
Forester.

B. Any locality may collect the costs of firefighting from any person who
intentionally starts a fire and who fails to attempt to prevent its escape,
which fire burns on any forestland, brushland, grassland or wasteland. Such
person shall be liable for the full amount of all expenses incurred by the
locality and any volunteer fire company or volunteer emergency medical services
agency to fight or extinguish the fire and the reasonable administrative costs
expended to collect such expenses. The locality shall remit any costs recovered
on behalf of another entity to such entity.

C. The State Forester or a locality may institute an action and recover from
either one or both parents of any minor, living with such parents or either of
them, the cost of forest fire suppression suffered by reason of the willful or
malicious destruction of, or damage to, public or private property by such
minor. No more than $750 may be recovered from such parents or either of them as
a result of any forest fire incident or occurrence on which such action is
based.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 10-58, 10-61; 1964, c. 79; 1986, c. 188; 1988, c. 891;
2008, c. 835; 2015, cc. 502, 503.