304 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Chapter 209. 

 An Act relative to the Setting of Fires in the Open Air. 

 Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 



Section 1. It shall be unlawful within any city, or within any town 

 which accepts the provisions of this act, for any person to set a fire in 

 the open air between the first day of March and the fii'st day of De- 

 cember except by the written permission of the forest warden, or the chief 

 of the fire department or, in cities that have such an official, the fire 

 commissioner: provided, that debris from fields, gardens and orchards, 

 or leaves and rubbish from yards may be burned on ploughed fields 

 by the owners thereof, their agents or lessees; and provided, further, that 

 persons above eighteen years of age may maintain a fire for a reason- 

 able purpose upon sandy or barren land, if the fire is enclosed within 

 rocks, metal or other non-inflammable material- In every case such fire 

 shall be at least two hundred feet distant from any forest or sprout lands, 

 and at least fifty feet distant from any building, and shall be properly 

 attended until it is extinguished. The forest warden shall cause public 

 notice to be given of the pro\isions of this section, and shall enforce the 

 same. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished 

 by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for 

 not more than one month, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 



Section 2. Said chapter two hundred and nine is hereby further 

 amended by striking out section four and inserting in place thereof the 

 following: — Section 4- The state forester and forest warden, or any 

 duly authorized assistant in the employ of the state forester, or any duly 

 appointed deputy forest warden, may arrest without a warrant any per- 

 sons found in the act of setting or maintaining a fire in violation of the 

 provisions of this act. 



SectiOxN 3. Said chapter is hereby further amended by striking out 

 section five and inserting in place thereof the following new section: — 

 Section 5. The selectmen of every town may submit this act to the 

 voters for their acceptance at any annual or special town meeting. The 

 vote shall be taken by separate ballot, and shall be "Yes," or "No" 

 in answer to the following question printed upon the ballot: "Shall an 

 act passed by the general court in the year nineteen hundred and eight, 

 entitled 'An Act to provide for the protection of forest or sprout lands 

 from fire,' be accepted by this town?" A majority vote of the legal 

 voters present and voting at such meeting shall be required for the ac- 

 ceptance of this act; and upon such acceptance the provisions of sec- 

 tion twenty-four of chapter thirty-two of the Revised Laws shall cease 

 to apply to any town which has previously accepted that section. 



Section 4. Section eleven of chapter two hundred and eleven of the 

 Revised Laws is hereby repealed. 



Section 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved 

 April 6, 1911. 



