Illinois Compiled Statutes 425 ILCS 40 — Forest Fire Protection District Act.

Short title

Short title. This Act may be cited as the Forest Fire Protection District Act. (Source: P.A. 86-1324.)

As used in this Act: "Director" means the Director of Natural Resources

As used in this Act: "Director" means the Director of Natural Resources. "Department" means the Department of Natural Resources. "Forest fires" means uncontrolled, wild or running fires occurring on forest, marsh, field, cutover or other lands. "District" means a geographic area determined by the Director to be in need…

Whenever the Director determines that geographic areas of contiguous territory within the State are in need of special protection from forest fires, the Director may order the establishment of one or more intensive forest fire protection districts, consisting of one or more counties or a portion or portions thereof, in…

Whenever the Director deems a forest fire hazard to exist in any district he may issue a proclamation declaring it unlawful within the district, during the period covered by the proclamation, to set on fire or cause to be set on fire, any woods, brush, grass, grain, weeds or stubble without first having obtained a burn…

The Director may appoint and fix the compensation of district, local and emergency forest fire wardens; provided that local and emergency forest fire wardens shall be paid an hourly compensation for time actually spent on the activity for which they are appointed. The jurisdiction of each district forest fire warden sh…

The Department shall supervise all forest fire wardens, shall instruct them in their duties, shall enforce all laws of the State for the prevention and suppression of forest fires, shall promulgate and adopt rules and regulations for the issuance of burning permits by forest fire wardens, shall cause to be prosecuted p…

It is the duty of each forest fire warden to prevent and extinguish forest fires occurring in the area assigned to him, to assist in the enforcement within that area of all laws for the prevention and suppression of forest fires, to issue burning permits in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated and adopted…

All employees of the Department, including all forest fire wardens, and all law enforcement officers in the State of Illinois, shall arrest any person who violates any provision of this Act, any administrative order issued pursuant to this Act or any other law of this State designed to prevent and suppress forest fires…

While engaged in controlling or extinguishing forest fires, any forest fire warden may enter upon the lands of any person, firm, private or municipal corporation or the State of Illinois to carry out his duties. He may set backfires, cut fire lanes and employ any other customary and accepted method of suppressing and e…

It is unlawful for any person to kindle or authorize any other person to kindle a fire in the open air outside the limits of any city, village or incorporated town within an intensive fire protection district, except on land owned or controlled by a railroad corporation when the fire is for the purpose of clearing its…

Nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to relieve the owners or lessees of lands upon which fires may burn or be started, from the duty of extinguishing such fires so far as it may be within their power. (Source: Laws 1957, p. 2407.)

No owner or lessee of land upon which fire may burn or be started, nor any person during employment with such owner or lessee, shall be compensated under this Act for extinguishing fire upon his land or the land to which his interest is attached. No person who is responsible for the spreading of a fire to a woodland, f…