People v. Williams

Appellant brought an action to recover the costs of suppressing fires alleged to have been negligently and unlawfully set by respondents. A demurrer was sustained without leave to amend and appellant appeals.

The facts are those as alleged in the complaint. Appellant concedes that there are no additional or different facts which could be alleged upon which it could be shown that sustain ing the demurrer without leave to amend was an abuse of discretion.

During 1957 defendant Carl White operated a portable sawmill on land situated in Humboldt County and owned by defendants Gertrude Graham and Blanche Williams. Mr. White operated this mill to convert timber which he was cutting on the land into lumber and other commercial wood products. As he was allowed to do under subdivision (3) of section 4165 of the Public Resources Code, Mr. White accumulated the flammable waste materials from this mill operation in a pile rather than burning it concurrently with the milling. He failed, however, to properly clear grass, slash, snags and other flammable cover around the pile as required under subdivision (3) of section 4165, and the land was never cleared by the landowners. Mr. White failed…