sued $1m for accidental forest fire

[wayno]

Dumping ashes outside, causing a fire that destroyed a home and forest, has resulted in a Tadmor couple being successfully sued for more than $1 million.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8680482 ... -for-blaze

[Hallu]

I don't find the judgement excessive. When you're part of the tourism industry (as they are with their B&B) on the outskirts of a heavily forested national park, the least you can do is just bring a bucket of water in which you can dump the burners' ashes... Don't they have an insurance that covers part of this ?

[wayno]

it doesnt look like they have insurance

[matagi]

Apparently they had insurance but it didn't cover the cabins.

[wayno]

nelson is highly prone to fires over summer, usually gets very dry and sunny... they usually have fire bans and warn people not to throw cigarette buts on the ground etc... there are fires there every summer
anyone living there long term should know to be very careful with anything that could possibly start a fire..

[matagi]

Does Nelson get cold enough in summer to require log fires overnight?

[wayno]

not usually but you can get cold weather come through any time of the year, the dry conditions can also stretch through spring and autumn