1.  In the case of a district created wholly or in part for the purpose of furnishing fire protection, the board may:

Terms Used In Nevada Revised Statutes 318.1181

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • person: means a natural person, any form of business or social organization and any other nongovernmental legal entity including, but not limited to, a corporation, partnership, association, trust or unincorporated organization. See Nevada Revised Statutes 0.039

(a) Acquire fire protection equipment and acquire, construct or improve fire protection facilities and make improvements necessary and incidental thereto;

(b) Eliminate fire hazards existing within the district in the manner prescribed in NRS 474.580 for districts created pursuant to chapter 474 of NRS;

(c) Clear public highways and private lands of dry grass, stubble, bushes, rubbish and other inflammable material which in its judgment constitute a fire hazard;

(d) Coordinate fire protection activities with the State Forester Firewarden;

(e) Cooperate with the State Forester Firewarden in formulating a statewide plan for the prevention and control of fires; and

(f) Bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction against any person, firm, association or agency that is responsible for willfully or negligently causing a wildfire to recover any expenses incurred by the district in extinguishing the wildfire and reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses.

2.  In determining whether a person, firm, association or agency is responsible for willfully or negligently causing a wildfire, it must be considered, without limitation, whether the person, firm, association or agency failed to exercise reasonable care given:

(a) The forecasted and existing weather conditions;

(b) The conditions of fuel moisture; and

(c) The topography of the area of the wildfire.

3.  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (f) of subsection 1 and subsection 2, a person, firm, association or agency is immune from liability for the payment of any expenses incurred by the district in extinguishing a wildfire and attorney’s fees and litigation expenses if the person, firm, association or agency immediately notified the nearest fire-fighting agency of the wildfire, was forthright and truthful in responding to questions from the State Forester Firewarden, any fire-fighting agency and any other state or local agency investigating the wildfire, and at least one of the following circumstances applies:

(a) The person, firm, association or agency had permission from a federal, state or local agency to start a fire or conduct a controlled burn and was in compliance with the terms of such permission;

(b) The person, firm, association or agency started a warming fire to protect human life due to dangerous weather conditions; or

(c) The person, firm, association or agency is in the business of raising livestock and started a controlled campfire for the purpose of branding livestock.

4.  As used in this section:

(a) ’Fire-fighting agency’ means a public fire department, fire protection district or other agency of this State or a political subdivision of this State, the primary functions of which are to control, extinguish, prevent and suppress fires.

(b) ’Livestock’ has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 569.0085.

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