Fire from neighbor's land

[LouNY]

The neighbors property liability insurance should be the one offering the first estimate of damage. After talking to the owner, he should be contacting his insurance company to make you whole. Someone will have to appraise and value the damage to set the value.

 

[Cycledude]

Got a phone call this morning that the neighbor next to my property let his fire get away and burned about 15 acres of my property and one structure. The house trailer was unocupied but was used for storage. Not sure should I contact a lawyer, the DA or work out something with the neighbor. I don't live on the property but my children do and there is a no burn order for the whole state.

So who actually called to notify you of the fire ?
You said the neighbor let his fire get away, if it actually was a fire started by your neighbor do you know what he was attempting to burn ?
I sure hope everything eventually gets worked out to your satisfaction.

 

[bridge4]

So who actually called to notify you of the fire ?
You said the neighbor let his fire get away, if it actually was a fire started by your neighbor do you know what he was attempting to burn ?
I sure hope everything eventually gets worked out to your satisfaction.

I'm not the guy who had the fire. It was just curious to me. If 15 of my 80 acres went up, I'd notice. hell if someones burning two miles down the road I notice. Just wondering how the kids didn't bring it up before the neighbor! Again, doesn't matter too much, but just looking for some gossip since we are on a forum and all.

 

[dodge man]

They might have been at work and came home to the problem.

 

[whitenorth]

If it were my property I would give the neighbor some credit that he called me and that I didn't find out about it through a third party. For that reason, I'd talk to the neighbor first before doing anything else after looking at what all got burned. Of course, other factors may come into play like what kind of relationship I have with the neighbor (friendly, adversary, etc).

 

[ruffdog]

The land owner NEEDS to have a report, in hand, of the fire. Whoever this may be, the fire chief, marshal, state fire investigator...whatever. It needs to state what caused the fire and that there was a burn ban at the time. Also, an estimate of damage done by the fire and firefighting equipment on your land. If there are no pictures, ask why not.....add some of your pictures. Then, take a moment to decide if you want to pursue getting paid for the damage. Is the fire department pursuing repayment from the person starting the fire? If not, why not?

 

[JeepHead]

Sounds to me that you're entitled to the loss of the structure and contents, the full value of any trees that will die, and the cost to pay for a company to come in and remove any dead trees (even if you or your kids intend to do that). That's exactly what I would expect to receive and the fact that he violated a state order would be good bargaining chips...

 

[Jstpssng]

I would find out if the neighbor who started the fire sought a burn permit

1. The neighbor lives on his
land tending to it and during a beneficial prescribed burn he underestimated the conditions

According to the OP's first post;

there is a no burn order for the whole state.

 

[HamishMacCheap]

there is a no burn order for the whole state.

Thank You

 

[4570Man]

Is the fire department pursuing repayment from the person starting the fire? If not, why not?

I’ve had more encounters with the local FD than I’d like to admit although never involving forestry dozers. They’ve never sent me a bill for their service.

 

[JeepHead]

I’ve had more encounters with the local FD than I’d like to admit although never involving forestry dozers. They’ve never sent me a bill for their service.

It's very common in my state to get billed for these services if you were negligent in not properly maintaining the fire.

 

[woody]

Just out of curiosity. Did you talk to these guys? What was their take on it?

ok guys thanks for the replies and I'll try to answer some of the questions that haven't already been answered.
Yes I talked to the forestry guys and they are not happy with him for burning during a no burn and a windy day, yes they said it was his fault.
My daughter is the one that called me first and after that I think everybody did.
the neighbor is the one that called 911.
there were 4 homes and several structures on my property and the one trailer that burned was the only one lost. I have a road/fire break that we keep clear and that trailer was the only one on that side of the fire break.

 

[nyone]

OP said that this is the second time in 1yr that this neighbor had a fire get away from him. I would talk to him fist and proceed with full compensation..if he dosnt agree then contact a lawyer.

 

[Silvic]

In my state you have to apply and have a burn permit. You have to check everyday before ignition if your area allows a burn to start. If you lose control and the fire department shows up then you pay for the cost of the fire suppression effort at a minimum.

 

[FullMetalBucket]

I’m surprised the forestry people aren’t filing some sort of negligence charge .. being upset with him is a nothing burger. But in the end you’re neighbors and hopefully he does the right thing and compensate you in some way for the damage. 15 acres is more than a little whoops. Hell in MA where my primary residence is that would be like 50 homes destroyed. Luckily no people got hurt.

 

[JeepHead]

Some people do not realize the value of select mature trees. It can easily be in the thousands...

 

[FullMetalBucket]

Some people do not realize the value of select mature trees. It can easily be in the thousands...

No kidding. Just look at the prices of saplings at the nurseries

 

[Drstrangeglove]

Some people do not realize the value of select mature trees. It can easily be in the thousands...

Just ask a logger who cut over the line. They are only worth a few dollars, maybe.

 

[etpm]

Just ask a logger who cut over the line. They are only worth a few dollars, maybe.

Instead ask how much it is to replace those trees. Same maturity, same height, in the ground. If my neighbor burned and killed several of my trees through negligence I would insist they be replaced with live trees equivalent to the trees killed. Logged trees aren't worth near what live trees in place are.

 

[ultrarunner]

Something similar happened and no one had insurance…

My friend sued for damages and put a lien on the neighbors property.

About 20 years later heirs went to sell and the lien plus statutory interest came off the top… in other words he was eventually made whole.

Had either party had insurance the insurance company(s) would have battled it out.

Friend did not want to force a sale because the owner had dementia and later passed away and he would have put the widow on the street… so he waited.