Rights of way to be kept clear. (55) Every railroad company 

 shall keep its right of way clear and free from weeds, high grass, 

 and decayed timber, which, from their nature and condition, are 

 combustible material, liable to take and communicate fire from pass- 

 ing trains to abutting or adjacent property. 



Penalty. (70) Any railroad company failing to comply with, or 

 violating, or permitting any of its agents or employees to violate, 

 any of the provisions of this chapter, or any valid order, rule, or 

 regulation of the State corporation commission, relating to the pro- 

 visions of this chapter, if not otherwise provided in this chapter, shall 

 be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than five hundred dollars 

 for each offense. [Chapter 4 of Act Concerning Public Service Cor- 

 porations, Sess. Laws, 1902-3-4, p. 968.] 



SECTION 1, CHAPTER 269, LAWS 1908 (Coos SUPPLEMENT, 1910, p. 796). 



Liability of companies, regardless of location of fire and condi- 

 tion of appliances. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Vir- 

 ginia, That whenever any person shall sustain damage from fire 

 occasioned by sparks or coals dropped or thrown from the engine 

 or train of any railroad company, such company shall be liable for 

 the damage so sustained, whether said fire shall have originated on 

 said company's right of way or not, and whether or not such engine 

 is equipped with proper spark-arresting appliances, and regardless of 

 the condition in which such appliances may be. 



SECTION i, CHAPTER 392, LAWS 1908 (CODE; SUPPLEMENT, 1910, p. 856). 



Insurable interest. Be it enacted by the general assembly of 

 Virginia, 1 hat every railroad company shall have, and is hereby 

 invested with, an insurable interest in the property upon the route 

 of any railroad operated by it, and may procure insurance there- 

 upon in its own behalf for protection against any damage to said 

 property by fire or otherwise, for which such company shall or 

 might be liable. 



SECTIONS 23, 25, CHAPTER 195, LAWS 1914. 



Civil liability Note. Railroad companies are liable as corpora- 

 tions, for damages and costs of extinguishing fires in cases in which 

 they cause fires which result in injury. For full text of the provi- 

 sions, see sections 23 and 25. 



SECTION 24. 



Spark arresters, etc. Ash pans; fire boxes Penalties. Logging 

 and railroad locomotives, donkey or threshing engines, and other 

 engines and boilers, operated in, through or near forest or brush, 

 which do not burn oil as fuel, shall be provided with appliances 

 to prevent, as far as may be possible, the escape of fire and sparks 

 from the smoke-stacks thereof, and with devices to prevent, as far 

 as may be possible, the escape of fire from ash pans and fire boxes. 

 Faiture to comply with these requirements shall be a misdemeanor, 

 punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not less than ten dollars 



[9] 



