What is the responsibility of private property owners to maintain their land to prevent fires? That's a question some state lawmakers want the future state fire marshal to answer.
The Senate Public Safety Committee passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 149 requesting the Office of the State Fire Marshal to create a working group that would determine regulations for private property owners.
Michael Angelo of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs told lawmakers a personal story.
"There was a failure of a dropdown from a service transformer outside of my house that failed — large sparks flying all over the place, huge fire hazard. The pole actually caught on fire. Fire department had to stand up. That was due to climbing vines coming up around ornamental shrubs that had been set up around the utility pole. It becomes a question of whose responsibility it is to remove those vines and where they are," he said.
"The second is, a few months later there was a bamboo stand that contacted the lines and caused sparking, calling the fire department. There was so much sparking that day that they said, 'Call us back... if you see anything burning.' So that is concerning because that is an ignition source in two cases, months apart. And there's the complexities around who's responsible for managing that vegetation, the private landowner, the utility company, depending on where it is on the infrastructure."
The measure will next be heard by the full Senate.
