(a)  The following acts shall be Class A misdemeanors: 
    (1)  Setting on fire or causing or procuring to be set on fire any forest, brush, or other inflammable vegetation on lands not his or her own; 

(2)  Allowing fire to escape from the control of the person building or having charge of the fire or to spread to the lands of any person other than the builder of the fire; 

(3)(A)  Burning any brush, stumps, logs, rubbish, fallen timber, grass, stubble, or debris of any sort, whether on his or her own land or that of another, without taking necessary precaution both before lighting the fire and at all times thereafter to prevent the escape thereof. 

(B)  The escape of fire to adjoining timber, brush, or grasslands shall be prima facie evidence that necessary precautions were not taken; 

(4)  Building a camp fire upon lands not one's own, without cleaning the ground immediately around it free from material that will carry fire or leaving thereon a camp fire to spread thereon or by throwing away a lighted cigar, match, or cigarette or by the use of firearms or in any other manner starting a fire in forest material not his or her own and leaving the fire unextinguished; 

(5)  Defacing or destroying fire warning notices; and 

(6)  Failure by any employee of the Arkansas Forestry Commission or any officer charged with the duties of enforcing criminal laws to attempt to secure the arrest and conviction of any persons against whom he or she has or can secure evidence of violating the fire laws. 

(b)  No bond for costs shall be required in any courts of this state for prosecution for violation of the provisions of this section. 

History. Acts 1935, No. 85, 1, 8; Pope's Dig., 3049, 3056; Acts 1981, No. 845, 1, 2; A.S.A. 1947, 41-1951, 41-1958; Acts 1993, No. 521, 4; 2005, No. 1994, 349.