274 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



June 



the lines of railroads in forests in coun- 

 ties containing parts of the forest pre- 

 serve, and at such other places in such 

 counties as the public interest requires. 

 Such patrol shall be organized and 

 maintained under the chief and assist- 

 ant fire wardens who shall themselves 

 be placed in charge of sections of the 

 exposed areas as fire patrols. Game 

 protectors may, so far as the public in- 

 terest will permit, be detailed as addi- 

 tional assistant fire wardens for such 

 patrol under the chief fire warden. The 

 commissioner may also in case of im- 

 mediate peril from fire, with the consent 

 of the governor, employ temporarily 

 such additional assistants to maintain 

 an efficient fire patrol as the public in- 

 terest requires. The chief fire warden 

 and assistant fire wardens when en- 

 gaged in inspection of railroad lines and 

 engines or on fire-patrol duty on rail- 

 road lines, as herein provided, shall be 

 transported without charge from point 

 to point as their duties shall require, by 

 the railroad companies on whose lines 

 such fire patrol and inspection are main- 

 tained. The commissioner shall keep 

 account of the cost of maintaining any 

 such fire patrol and system of inspec- 

 tion along the line of a railroad in the 

 forest preserve, including therein the 

 salaries, expenses and wages of public 

 officers or employes directly engaged 

 in maintaining such patrol for the time 

 that the said patrol and inspection are 

 maintained, and one-half the cost there- 

 of during the preceding year shall be 

 paid by the railroad company on the 

 first day of December of each year to 

 the commissioner. The commissioner 

 may also organize in any town in the 

 forest preserve a fire patrol during the 

 season when fires occur. One-half the 

 expense thereof shall be a town charge, 

 and one-half shall be paid by the state 

 unless according to the last assessment- 

 roll of such town more than one-half 

 of the landed property therein in value, 

 is the property of the state, in which 

 case the state shall pay such a proportion 

 of the cost of such patrol as the value of 

 the lands held by the state bears to the 

 entire assessed valuation of such town, 

 and the remainder shall be a town 

 charge. If the state pay the whole 



amount the commissioner may collect 

 the amount payable by any town of 

 such town. 



SEC. 3. Section two hundred and 

 twenty-five of this act is hereby amended 

 to read as follows : 



SEC. 225. Fire wardens and fire dis- 

 tricts. The commission (shall) may 

 from time to time in every town having 

 lands which are part of the forest pre- 

 serve, and may in every town having 

 lands which would become part of the 

 forest preserve if acquired by the state, 

 appoint a fire warden who shall act 

 during the pleasure of the commission. 

 When required by the commission, such 

 fire warden shall, and any such fire 

 warden may establish two or more fire 

 districts in his town. He may also by 

 a written appointment filed in the town 

 clerk's office, from time to time appoint 

 a resident citizen in each district as dis- 

 trict fire warden who shall act during 

 the pleasure of the fire warden. (Such 

 districts shall be established by filing in 

 the town clerk's office a map showing 

 the boundaries thereof and by posting a 

 duplicate map in a public place in the 

 town. The cost of such maps not ex- 

 ceeding ten dollars shall be a town 

 charge.) In every other town the su- 

 pervisor shall be fire warden by virtue 

 of his office. If the supervisor be ab- 

 sent when fire occurs, or fail to act, any 

 justice of the peace in the town may act 

 as fire warden. If in a town situated in 

 a county containing lands of the forest 

 preserve, the commission is unable to 

 find a suitable person who will accept 

 the position of firewarden, then the su- 

 pervisor of that town shall act as fire 

 warden and discharge all the duties de- 

 volving on that office by law, and shall 

 promptly make to the chief fire warden 

 a report of each forest fire that occurs in 

 his town. 



SEC. 4. Section two hundred and 

 twenty-six of said act is hereby amended 

 to read as follows : 



SEC. 226. Duties of fire wardens. 

 Under the commission a fire warden is 

 charged with preventing and extinguish- 

 ing forest fires in his town. During a 

 season of drought a fire warden may, 

 with the approval of the commissioner, 

 establish a fire patrol in his town. In 



