2022 Nevada Revised Statutes
Chapter 472 - State Forester Firewarden
NRS 472.540 - Liability of person, firm, association or agency causing fire or other emergency; immunity; exception.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this section or by specific statute, if the State Forester Firewarden determines that a person, firm, association or agency is responsible for willfully or negligently causing any fire or other emergency, the person, firm, association or agency may be charged with the expenses incurred in extinguishing the fire or meeting the emergency, together with the cost of necessary patrol. This charge constitutes a debt of the person, firm, association or agency charged and is collectible by the federal, state, county, city or municipal agency, or general improvement district created pursuant to NRS 318.1181 for the purpose of furnishing fire protection, incurring such expenses in the same manner as in the case of an obligation under a contract, express or implied.

2. In determining whether a person, firm, association or agency is responsible for willfully or negligently causing a fire pursuant to subsection 1, the State Forester Firewarden shall consider, without limitation, whether the person, firm, association or agency failed to exercise reasonable care given:

(a) The forecasted and existing weather conditions;

(b) The conditions of fuel moisture; and

(c) The topography of the area of the fire.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 1 and 2, a person, firm, association or agency is immune from liability for the payment of expenses and costs described in subsection 1 if the person, firm, association or agency immediately notified the nearest fire-fighting agency of the fire, was forthright and truthful in responding to questions from the State Forester Firewarden, any fire-fighting agency and any other state or local agency investigating the fire, and at least one of the following circumstances applies:

(a) The person, firm, association or agency had permission from a federal, state or local agency to start a fire or conduct a controlled burn and was in compliance with the terms of such permission;

(b) The person, firm, association or agency started a warming fire to protect human life due to dangerous weather conditions; or

(c) The person, firm, association or agency is in the business of raising livestock and started a controlled campfire for the purpose of branding livestock.

4. If the State Forester Firewarden determines that the fire or other emergency was the result of an unavoidable accident, the State Forester Firewarden shall not charge the person, firm, association or agency that caused the fire or emergency the expenses incurred in extinguishing the fire or meeting the emergency.

5. As used in this section:

(a) "Fire-fighting agency" means a public fire department, fire protection district or other agency of this State or a political subdivision of this State, the primary functions of which are to control, extinguish, prevent and suppress fires.

(b) "Livestock" has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 569.0085.

(Added to NRS by 2015, 2225; A 2021, 1369)