The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
004
:
FOREST FIRES AND FIRE PREVENTION
(Cite as: 10 V.S.A. § 2643)
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§ 2643. Town’s liability for suppression of forest fires; State aid
(a) A municipality in which a forest fire occurs shall pay the cost to suppress a forest
fire that occurs on land that is not owned by the Agency of Natural Resources, including
the costs of personnel and equipment. The Commissioner may, according to the Department
fire suppression reimbursement policy, reimburse a municipality for all or a portion
of the costs of suppressing a forest fire on land that is not owned by the Agency
of Natural Resources.
(b) For the purpose of suppressing forest fires on lands owned by the Agency of Natural
Resources, the State shall reimburse a town for all its forest fire suppression costs
at a rate determined by the Commissioner according to the Department fire suppression
reimbursement policy. If the total acreage of a forest fire is determined to be partially
on land owned by the Agency of Natural Resources and partially on land owned by another
party, the Commissioner shall, at a minimum, reimburse the town at a rate determined
by the Commissioner according to the Department fire suppression reimbursement policy
for costs incurred by the municipality on land owned by the Agency of Natural Resources.
(c) For any forest fire on lands owned by the Agency of Natural Resources to be considered
eligible for reimbursement from the State, a town forest fire warden shall have reported
the forest fire to the Commissioner within 14 days of extinguishment of the fire as
required under section 2644 of this title. For reimbursement of fire suppression costs for forest fires on land owned by the
Agency of Natural Resources, the town forest fire warden and the Commissioner or designee
shall approve the costs before submission to the municipality for payment. The town
forest fire warden may submit to the State on an annual basis a request for reimbursement
of fire suppression costs on lands owned by the Agency of Natural Resources. The State
shall reimburse a town for all applicable forest fire suppression costs when the reimbursement
request is presented in a form approved by the Commissioner to the Commissioner by
December 31 of each year. (Added 1977, No. 253 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2015, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.), § 11.)