Title 18 — Fires

A substitute firefighter, a person serving on probation, and a firefighter in a municipality, rural fire department, or rural fire protection district having a relief association in its fire department who is not a member of the association may not be deemed a firefighter within …

The qualifications as to age prescribed by this chapter do not apply to a member of a fire department who makes an application for a pension on account of injuries or disabilities that result in the firefighter being unfit to perform the duties of an active firefighter. The relie…

Repealed by S.L. 1987, ch. 386, § 2. 18-05-12. Secretary and treasurer of firefighters relief association to prepare report - Contents - Filing. The secretary and treasurer of every firefighters relief association shall prepare annually a report of all the receipts and expenditur…

Repealed by S.L. 1957, ch. 165, § 14.

Repealed by S.L. 1957, ch. 165, § 14. 18-06-03. Equipment must be purchased on competitive bids - Paid for out of general fund. Repealed by S.L. 1957, ch. 165, § 14.

Repealed by S.L. 1957, ch. 165, § 14. 18-06-05. Equipment purchased jointly - Each board of supervisors to authorize clerk to advertise for bids. Repealed by S.L. 1957, ch. 165, § 14. 18-06-06. Petition for tax levy for fire protection in unincorporated villages - Tax levy made. …

Repealed by S.L. 1957, ch. 165, § 14.

The electors of each township at the annual township meeting may authorize and empower the board of township supervisors to fund from revenues derived from the general fund levy authority of the township and provide by contract or otherwise for the prevention of, protection from,…

Repealed by S.L. 2015, ch. 439, § 104.

The board of county commissioners, from time to time, if a levy is made for a firebreak fund, shall divide the county into as many fire districts as may be necessary. Each district must be known and designated as "Fire District No. _____". The board may map out each fire district…

The fire wardens shall carry out in their respective districts all of the instructions of the board of county commissioners with reference to making firebreaks and preventing the spread of prairie fires. All firebreaks made under the provisions of this chapter must be made in eac…

A legal firebreak consists of a strip of land two hundred feet [60.96 meters] wide, plowed on either side and burned out inside the plowing.

For the purpose of making a firebreak, a strip of prairie not exceeding one hundred feet [30.48 meters] in width, protected on each side by a strip of plowed or burned land not less than five feet [1.52 meters] wide, may be set on fire. At least four men must be present when the …

A board of county commissioners may provide, from the firebreak fund, such tools and appliances as may be necessary to aid and assist in making firebreaks to prevent the spread of prairie fires.

Any person who sets or causes to be set on fire any woods, marsh, prairie, hay, weeds, or any grass or stubble lands, except as hereinafter provided, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

A person may set any grass or stubble lands on fire at the time the person commences to break or plow such lands if, at the time the fire is set, there is a strip at least fifty feet [15.24 meters] wide of well-plowed or burned land completely encompassing the land where the fire…

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673.

If a fire which is lawfully set to burn grass or stubble land accidentally and without any negligence on the part of the person setting the fire gets beyond the person's control, the person is liable only in a civil action to the person damaged for the amount of the damage.

Repealed by S.L. 1973, ch. 50, § 1. 18-08-06. Liability for unlawfully setting fire to destroy grasshoppers - Penalty for carelessness and negligence. Repealed by S.L. 1973, ch. 50, § 1.

A person who makes a camp or other fire, or causes the same to be made, and leaves such fire without having thoroughly extinguished it, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

In any action to recover damages under the provisions of this chapter, the person injured by the fire need not allege or prove title to the real property over which the fire has spread. It is sufficient in any such action to allege and prove that the person injured was in the occ…

1. Every person who, at any unwanted fire, disobeys the lawful orders of a public officer or firefighter, or resists or interferes with the lawful efforts of any firefighter or company of firefighters to extinguish the fire, or acts in a manner calculated to prevent the fire from…

Any person violating the provisions of section 18-08-10 is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

1. The state fire marshal, or the state fire marshal's designee, shall inspect annually the state penitentiary, the James River correctional center, the Missouri River correctional center, the North Dakota youth correctional center, the life skills and transition center, the stat…

The term "liquefied petroleum gas", as used in this chapter, means and includes any material which is composed predominantly of any of the following hydrocarbons, or mixtures of the same: propane, propylene, butane (normal butane or isobutane), and butylenes.

The state fire marshal shall adopt rules setting forth minimum general standards covering the design, construction, location, installation, and operation of equipment for storage, handling, transporting by tank truck, tank trailer, and utilizing liquefied petroleum gases and spec…

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter or of the regulations of the state fire marshal made pursuant to it is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

In addition to the penalties provided in section 18-09-03, any person, firm, or corporation who violates or remains in violation of any of the provisions hereof, or of any rule or regulation promulgated by the state fire marshal hereunder, may be directed and ordered by the state…

Whenever sixty percent of the freeholders residing in any rural territory, equivalent in area to one township or more, elects to form, organize, establish, equip, and maintain a rural fire protection district, they shall signify such intention by presenting to the county auditor …

Upon the filing of such petition in the office of the county auditor, the county auditor shall determine and certify that such petition has been signed by at least sixty percent of the freeholders whose names appear on the current tax schedules in the office of the county auditor…

Following the filing of the order of the board of county commissioners, the county auditor shall designate a time and place for a public meeting of all electors who are owners of any interest in real or personal property assessed for taxation in the district and who are residing …

1. At the time and place fixed by the county auditor for the public meeting as provided in section 18-10-03, the electors who are owners of any interest in real or personal property assessed for taxation in the district and who are residing within the boundaries of the district m…

A regular meeting of the electors who are owners of any interest in real or personal property assessed for taxation in the district and who are residing within the boundaries of a district must be held in the first quarter of each calendar year and special meetings may be called …

The board of directors has the following general powers: 1. To determine upon a general fire protection program for the district. 2. To make an annual estimate of the probable expense for carrying out such program. 3. To annually certify such estimate to the proper county auditor…

The board of directors of a rural fire protection district, with other state and federal agencies, may evaluate the need for firebreaks and ensure that unprotected acreage enrolled in the conservation reserve program is dissected into approximately one-hundred-sixty-acre [64.75-h…

No district may become indebted for an amount that may not be payable from ninety percent of twenty times the current annual maximum tax levy as authorized by section 18-10-07. Within the limits herein authorized, the district has power to borrow money and to issue appropriate ev…

The following must be deposited in a state or national bank to the credit of the district fund and may be drawn out only by warrant: 1. All funds collected on behalf of the district through the levy of taxes. 2. All donations, contributions, bequests, or annuities received by or …

1. Any territory which is adjacent to the boundary of an existing rural fire protection district may be annexed to such district in the manner hereinafter provided. 2. The proceedings for the annexation, referred to in subsection 1, may be initiated by the presentation to the aud…

The boundaries of any rural fire protection district organized under the provisions of this chapter may be changed in the manner prescribed by sections 18-10-02 and 18-10-03, but the changes of boundaries of any such district may not impair or affect its organization or its right…

Any person having an ownership interest in property subject to a mill levy as provided for in section 18-10-07 and wishing to withdraw such property from the rural fire protection district may do so as provided in this section, subject to the following restrictions: 1. The territ…

The county auditor of each county in which any rural fire protection district or districts have been organized under the provisions of this chapter, prior to the effective date of this chapter, shall forthwith designate a time and place for a hearing before the county board of su…

Repealed by S.L. 2015, ch. 439, § 104.

Any club, lodge, chapter, charitable home, dormitory, state or county fair association, or like organization located within a rural fire protection district and outside the boundaries of any city shall pay to the board of directors of the district annually for fire protection suc…

Repealed by S.L. 2017, ch. 159, § 7.

No rural fire protection district, nor any personnel of the district, acting within the scope of its authority is liable for any claim resulting from the failure to provide or maintain sufficient personnel, equipment, or other fire protection facilities; or doing any extinguishme…

An alternate firefighters retirement and disability plan may be implemented by a firefighters relief association in lieu of the plan provided for in chapter 18-05. Before a relief association may implement the plan provided for in this chapter, a vote must be taken among the memb…

The firefighters relief association must be organized, operated, and maintained in accordance with its articles of incorporation and its bylaws by firefighters who are members of the fire department. The relief association may regulate and manage its own affairs and for that purp…

As used in this chapter, the term "firefighter" means any person who is regularly entered on the payroll of the department serving on active duty and engaged in the hazards of firefighting. The term includes a probationary firefighter but does not include a substitute firefighter…

Any firefighter who is a member of the relief association established under chapter 18-05 may continue as a member of the relief association created by this chapter if the department of which the firefighter is a member has elected to come under the provisions of this chapter, an…

When any firefighter desires to become a member of the relief association provided by this chapter, that firefighter may apply in writing for membership to the association. The application must be made on a form supplied by the association and must be accompanied by the certifica…