reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 48 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 12 - Compensation

Section 12. Payment shall be made to forest wardens, their deputies, and persons assisting them, and for property used under their direction at a forest fire, at a rate prescribed by the town or, in default of its action thereon, by the selectmen. No such payment shall be made until an itemized account, approved by the forest warden under whose direction the work was done or assistance furnished, shall have been filed with the officer making payment.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 13 - Setting Open Air Fires; Conditions and Restrictions; Penalty for Violation

Section 13. No person shall set, maintain or increase a fire in the open air at any time except by permission, covering a period not exceeding two days from the date thereof, granted by the forest warden or chief of the fire department in cities and towns, or, in cities having such an official, the fire commissioner; provided, that if such permission is not in writing, a written record of the granting thereof, setting forth the date upon which permission was granted, the dates covered by such permission, the name and address of the person to whom, and the manner in which, such permission was granted, and any other necessary information relative thereto, shall be made and kept by the forest warden, chief or fire commissioner, as the case may be, and shall be open to public inspection; and provided further, that persons eighteen years of age or older may, without a permit, set, maintain or increase a reasonable fire for the purpose of cooking, upon sandy or gravelly land free from living or dead vegetation or upon sandy or rocky beaches bordering on tidewater, if the fire is enclosed within rocks, metal or other nonflammable material. The forest warden, chief or fire commissioner, as the case may be, may make it a condition for granting a permit that any burning shall be done only after four o'clock (eastern standard time) in the afternoon, and in the case of a permit for a demolition burning may make it a condition for granting such permit that sufficient fire department personnel, to be assigned by proper authority at the expense of the person seeking such permit, shall be present at such burning to control the fire until it is entirely extinguished. Any permit granted under this section may be revoked at any time. The forester may make rules and regulations relating to the granting and revocation of such permits binding throughout the commonwealth. Such rules and regulations shall take effect subject to section thirty-seven of chapter thirty, when approved by the governor and council. The forest wardens in towns and officials performing the duties of forest wardens in cities shall cause public notice to be given of the provisions of this section and shall enforce the same. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 plus the cost of suppression or by imprisonment for not more than one month or both. In this section, a demolition burning shall mean a fire set for the purpose of burning debris resulting from the demolition of buildings.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 15 - Powers of Arrest

Section 15. The forester, the state fire warden or any duly authorized assistant, the forest warden in a town or the official performing the duties of a forest warden in a city, or any duly appointed deputy forest warden, the director of the division of fisheries and wildlife, an environmental police officer or deputy environmental police officer or a fish and game warden may arrest without warrant any person found in the act of setting, maintaining or increasing a fire in violation of section thirteen. They shall take precautions to prevent the progress of forest fires, or the improper kindling thereof, and upon the discovery of any such fire shall immediately require the necessary assistance in accordance with section ten, the provisions of which and of sections eleven and twelve are hereby made applicable in such case, and shall notify the local forest warden.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 16 - Definitions

Section 16. For the purposes of this section and section sixteen A, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:  ''Forest or woods road'', any permanently maintained road that is not a highway, the primary use of which is access to forest lands for the purpose of forest management or presuppression and suppression of forest fires.  ''Highway'', any state road or land maintained by the department of highways of the commonwealth or any municipal or county maintained road, or private road other than a forest or woods road, of sufficient width to permit the simultaneous passage of two or more vehicles.  ''Slash'', tops, branches, damaged trees, slabs, sawdust from milling operations, or debris left from logging or land clearing operations.  Every owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of lands, or their agents or employees, or any such person or entity holding rights or interest in said land or the timber thereon, or any rights or interests therein, except electric, telephone and telegraph companies, who cuts or permits the cutting of brush, wood or timber on lands which border upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, or upon any forest or woods road to which the public has authorized access, shall dispose of the slash caused by such cutting in accordance with the following manner:  (a) hardwood slash shall not remain more than two feet above the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any railroad location, or of the outer edge of the boundary of any highway, or twenty feet from the outer edge of any forest or woods road;  (b) softwood slash shall not remain on the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any railroad location, or of the outer edge of the boundary of any highway, and shall not lie more than two feet above the ground between forty feet and one hundred feet of the outer edge of the boundary of any highway, or twenty-five feet from the edge of any forest or woods road;  (c) all slash resulting from such cutting operations shall be disposed of in such a manner as to minimize the danger from fire. No slash shall be permitted within twenty-five feet of any continuously flowing brook or stream, pond, river or water supply. The director of the division of forests and parks may make exceptions to this procedure in the preparation or approval of cutting plans; provided, however, that any exceptions made on lands adjacent to a state highway shall be approved by the commissioner of the department of highways.  This section shall apply to cutting operations subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-two.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 16a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 16a - Handling of Slash

Section 16A. Every owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of lands, or their agents or employees, or any such person or entity holding rights or interest in said lands or the timber thereon, or of any rights or interests therein, except electric, telephone and telegraph companies, who cuts or permits the cutting of brush, wood or timber on lands which border upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, shall dispose of the slash caused by such cutting in such a manner that the same will not remain on the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any railroad location, or within one hundred feet from the center of any highway, and all slash resulting from such cutting operations shall be cut and scattered in such a manner as to minimize the danger from fire. Wherever multiple highway systems exist adjacent to cuttings, no slash shall be permitted within one hundred feet from the outer edge of the highway. No slash shall be permitted within twenty-five feet of any brook, stream, pond, river or water supply.  This section shall apply to cutting or clearing operations not subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-two.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 17 - Disposition of Slash Cut Near Highways

Section 17. Any person who cuts or causes to be cut trees, brush or undergrowth within the limits of any highway, shall dispose of the slash and brush then and there resulting from such cutting in such a manner that the same will not remain on the ground within the limits of said highway.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 18 - Disposition of Slash Cut by Public Utility Companies

Section 18. Electric, telephone and telegraph companies which, at the time of erecting their transmission lines, cut or cause to be cut brush, wood or timber on land which borders upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, shall dispose of the slash caused by such cutting in such a manner that the same will not remain on the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any highway or railroad location; such companies which after the erection of their lines trim or cut brush, wood or timber which has grown up since the line was erected, and which borders upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, shall, upon the request of the forester, and within a time limit set by him, dispose of the slash of second or subsequent cuttings if the same in his opinion constitutes a menace to adjoining property.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 19 - Enforcement of Regulations Prohibiting Accumulations of Slash

Section 19. The forester, or any duly authorized assistant, the state fire warden and the forest wardens in cities and towns are hereby authorized to inspect wood or lumber operations, and also the rights of way of electric, telephone and telegraph companies' transmission lines, to determine whether the slash and brush are disposed of in accordance with sections sixteen to eighteen, inclusive.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 20 - Penalty for Violating Provisions Prohibiting Accumulations of Slash

Section 20. Violation of any provision of sections 16 to 18, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $2,500.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 21 - Spark Arresters; Requirements; Penalty for Noncompliance

Section 21. Whoever operates in or adjacent to forest or grasslands any equipment or vehicle which burns any spark producing material as fuel, unless the same is provided with a suitable spark arrester approved by the United States Department of Forestry, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $100 and the cost of suppression if such operation results in a response from a fire department.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 22 - Inspection of Machines Requiring Spark Arresters

Section 22. The forester or his assistants or the state fire warden may inspect all appliances described in the preceding section to determine if they are provided with suitable spark arresters.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 23 - Fire Observation Towers

Section 23. Towns may construct, in co-operation with other towns or with the commonwealth, forest fire observations towers, the situation and construction of which shall be subject to the direction of the forester.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 24 - Firefighting Expenditures

Section 24. Money appropriated by a town under section eleven of chapter forty, for the prevention of forest fires, and all fines received under sections eleven, thirteen and twenty-six of this chapter and section nine of chapter two hundred and sixty-six shall be expended by the forest warden, under the supervision of the selectmen, in trimming brush out of wood roads, in preparing and preserving suitable lines for back fires, for fire patrols, or in other ways adapted to prevent or check the spread of fire; or such town may expend any portion of such money in taking by eminent domain such woodland as the selectmen, upon recommendation of the forest warden, consider expedient to prevent forest fires. Such taking and the payment of damages therefor or for injury to property, other than by fire or back fire, shall be governed by chapter seventy-nine. In the event of a forest fire getting beyond the control of a local forest warden, the forester or his assistant may take entire charge of the extinguishment of such fire and engage all help and equipment necessary therefor. All expenses thereby incurred in a town wherein a fire occurs after the forester has so taken charge shall be divided equally between such town and the commonwealth. The expenses aforesaid shall be paid by the commonwealth upon presentation of pay rolls and vouchers approved in such manner as the forester shall direct. One half of any sums so paid shall be assessed and collected as a part of the state tax of such town.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 25 - Duties; Extinguishment of Fires; Investigation of Causes; Posting of Warning Notices

Section 25. Except as provided in section twenty-four, every forest warden shall have sole charge of the extinguishment of forest fires in his city or town. He shall investigate the causes and extent of forest fires and the injury done thereby, and shall report thereon to the forester at such times and in such form as he requires. Every forest warden shall also post in suitable places in the town such warnings against the setting of forest fires and statements of law relating thereto as may be supplied to him by the forester. The engineers or other officers in charge of fire departments in cities, towns and fire districts which have so voted shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of forest wardens with respect to forest fires.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 26 - Penalty for Destruction of Warning Notices

Section 26. Whoever wilfully and maliciously tears down or destroys any notice posted under the preceding section shall be punished by a fine of $100.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 27 - Liability for Trespass

Section 27. Forest wardens, their deputies and assistants, foresters, chief fire wardens, district fire wardens and forest fire patrolmen shall not be liable for trespass when engaged in the performance of their duties under this chapter or chapter one hundred and thirty-one, one hundred and thirty-two or one hundred and forty-eight.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 28 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 28 - State Fire Warden; Powers and Duties; Reports

Section 28. The state fire warden appointed under section five of chapter twenty-one shall aid and advise the forest wardens and their deputies in towns and the municipal officers exercising the functions of forest wardens in cities in preventing and extinguishing forest fires and in enforcing the laws relative thereto. The forester may designate not more than fifteen assistants to aid the warden. The state fire warden shall report annually to the forester upon his work and upon the forest fires occurring in the commonwealth. This report shall be included in the report of the commissioner of environmental management relative to the acts of the forester.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 28b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 28b - Fire Patrols in Dry Areas; Authorization; Payment of Costs

Section 28B. When the forest fire hazard, as determined by the director of the division of forestry, according to the United States Forest Service standard of classification of fire danger, or its equivalent in any future classification, shall reach a burning index of fifty or higher, the forest warden, within the limits of funds appropriated for such purposes, may, and upon the order of the forester shall cause the forests of such town to be patrolled for the prevention of such fires. The cost of such patrol, if ordered by the forester, shall be paid by said town, subject to reimbursement by the commonwealth, if the valuation of such town does not exceed one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, as if incurred for the extinguishment of forest fires as provided in section twenty-four.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 28c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 28c - Closing of Forest Lands During Dry Periods; Penalty for Trespassing

Section 28C. When, in the judgment of the director of the division of forests and parks, the forest fire hazard is such as to require the use of forest fire patrols in any town, all forest lands therein shall be closed to all persons except the owners thereof and the tenants of such owners or to the authorized agents of such owners and tenants and the director shall use all reasonable means to notify all persons of such closing. While such fire hazard exists, a duly authorized forest warden, deputy forest warden, chief fire warden and his assistants, environmental police officer or deputy environmental police officer may arrest without a warrant any person found within the forest lands of another without authorization from the owner or tenant thereof or without other legal authority if such person refuses to leave such forest lands upon request and such person shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 36 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 36 - Promotion of Call Men to Permanent Force; Conditions

Section 36. Any town which has accepted chapter four hundred and eighty-seven of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirteen, and has a call or part call fire department which now is or may hereafter be subject to chapter thirty-one, may, on the recommendation of the board of engineers of the fire department or of the officer or board having charge of the fire department, promote to membership in the permanent full-time force, without civil service examination and without any probationary period of service required under said chapter thirty-one and the rules and regulations made thereunder, any persons then in the call or part call fire department who have served as call men or part call men or substitute call men for three or more successive years, and who are certified to be competent physically for the duty by the town physician, if any, otherwise by a physician designated therefor by the board of engineers or other authority, as aforesaid; provided, at the time of said promotion to the full-time force, the person so promoted is serving in the call department on a permanent basis after certification from an eligible list established in accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 36a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 36a - Promotion of Call Men to Regular Force; Conditions; Qualifications

Section 36A. Any town which has not accepted chapter four hundred and eighty-seven of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirteen and shall accept this section by vote of the town at a town meeting, and has a call or part call fire force which now is or may hereafter be subject to chapter thirty-one, may, on the recommendation of the appointing officer of the fire department, promote to membership in the regular or permanent full-time force, without civil service examination and without any probationary period of service required under said chapter thirty-one and the rules made thereunder, any persons then in the call or part call fire force who have served as call men or part call men or substitute call men for three or more successive years, and who are certified to be competent physically for the duty by the town physician, if any, otherwise by a physician designated therefor by said appointing officer. Appointments from the call force to the regular or permanent force shall be made by the appointing officer upon certification by the personnel administrator from the list of members of the call force of firemen, in accordance with the rules of the civil service commission, except that the basis of certification shall be the order of appointment to the call force, or, if not ascertainable, the order of the respective ratings of such members obtained in the examination upon which the list of eligibles for appointment to such call force was based. No person who has passed his fiftieth birthday shall be appointed from such a call force to such a regular or permanent force.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 37 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 37 - Application of Sections Relating to Appointment of Call Men to Regular Force

Section 37. The provisions of section thirty-six or section thirty-six A shall not apply to any town in which the promotion of call men to the permanent or regular force is regulated by a special act relating to such town, nor to Boston.