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2018 Georgia Code 12-6-148 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 12-6-148 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 12-6-148

TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Section 6. Forest Resources and Other Plant Life, 12-6-1 through 12-6-247.

ARTICLE 1 FOREST RESOURCES

12-6-148. Requirements for prescribed burning; limitation on liability.

  1. Prescribed burning conducted under the requirements of this part shall:
    1. Be accomplished only when an individual with previous prescribed burning experience or training is in charge of the burn and is present on site until the fire is adequately confined to reasonably prevent escape of the fire from the area intended to be burned;
    2. Be considered in the public interest and shall not create a public or private nuisance;
    3. Be considered a property right of the landowner; and
    4. Be conducted in accordance with a permit issued under Part 3 of this article.
  2. No property owner or owner's agent conducting an authorized prescribed burn under this part shall be liable for damages or injury caused by fire or resulting smoke unless it is proven that there was gross negligence in starting, controlling, or completing the burn.

(Code 1981, §12-6-148, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2405, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1285, § 6.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Individual with burning experience in charge of prescribed burn.

- Landowner was entitled to the protections from liability provided by the Georgia Prescribed Burning Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-6-148, because the landowner did not fail to ensure that an individual with previous prescribed burning experience or training was in charge of a prescribed burn the landowner conducted on a tract of land for the purposes of O.C.G.A. § 12-6-148(a)(1); the landowner was assisted by the chief ranger with the local office of forestry service, and the ranger had extensive prescribed burning training and experience, evaluated the landowner's circumstances and made the critical decisions about the timing, permitting, and location of the burn and the methods to be used, and directed and supervised forestry employees and the landowner. Morgan v. Horton, 308 Ga. App. 192, 707 S.E.2d 144 (2011), cert. denied, No. S11C1028, 2011 Ga. LEXIS 533 (Ga. 2011).

Landowner not required to obtain separate permit for days following prescribed burn.

- Landowner's failure to obtain a separate permit for the days following a prescribed burn pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-6-90 did not strip the landowner of the protections provided by the Georgia Prescribed Burning Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-6-148, because the chief ranger with the local office of the forestry service who assisted the landowner never told the landowner that the fire had to be completely out by 4:00 P.M. since the permit would expire, nor did the ranger tell the landowner that the landowner had to stop the burn or put the fire out due to the possibility of smoke combining with fog; although an expert witness stated in an affidavit that according to the State Forestry Commission Policy and Procedure Manual, no active flames were permitted outside of the permitted time, the manual upon which the expert relied for that conclusion was not a part of the record, and thus, the expert's assertion regarding the manual's contents was inadmissible hearsay and without probative value. Morgan v. Horton, 308 Ga. App. 192, 707 S.E.2d 144 (2011), cert. denied, No. S11C1028, 2011 Ga. LEXIS 533 (Ga. 2011).

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