Setting fires at certain times without permit

(a) (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Reckless: means that a person acts recklessly with respect to circumstances surrounding the conduct or the result of the conduct when the person is aware of, but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105(1) It is unlawful for any person to start an open-air fire between October 15 and May 15, inclusive, within five hundred feet (500′) of any forest, grasslands or woodlands without first securing a permit from the state forester or the state forester’s duly authorized representative. Depending upon the potential for hazardous burning conditions, the state forester may prescribe a period other than October 15 to May 15 within which a permit must be obtained prior to starting an open-air fire. (2) A violation of this subsection (a) is a Class C misdemeanor. (b) (1) In extreme fire hazard conditions, the commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the state forester and the county mayors of impacted counties, may issue a burning ban prohibiting all open air fire in any area of the state. (2) A violation of this subsection (b) is reckless burning and punishable as a Class A misdemeanor as provided in § 39-14-304. (c) This section shall not apply to fires that may be set within the corporate limits of any incorporated town or city that has passed ordinances controlling the setting of fires.