Baba Kama 6:4-5

Baba Kama 6:4

If a person sends fire via a person with congenital deafness, a person lacking mental competence or a minor, he is exempt under human law but liable under Divine law. If he sent fire via a person with all of his faculties, that messenger is responsible. If one person brought the flame and then another brought the wood, the one who brought the wood is liable. If one person brought the wood and then another brought the flame, the one who brought the flame is liable. If someone came along and fanned the fire, he’s the responsible party; if the fire was fanned by the wind, everyone is exempt. If a person started a fire and it devoured wood, stones or soil, he is liable as per Exodus 22:5, “If a fire breaks out or spreads to thorns, then devours stacked grain, standing grain or a field, the one who lit it shall pay the damages.” If the fire passes over a fence that is four cubits tall (about six feet), a public thoroughfare or a river, then he is exempt. If he lit the fire on his own property, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah says that he is liable for the fire for the diameter of a kor (a measure of area 274 cubits by 274 cubits, the fire being considered the center). Rabbi Eliezer says that one is responsible for 16 cubits, as in the public domain. Rabbi Akiva says 50 cubits, and Rabbi Shimon says that “the one who lit it shall pay the damages” means that everything depends upon the nature of the fire that was lit.

Baba Kama 6:5

Let’s say that someone burned a stack of sheaves but there were utensils hidden in the stack, which burned up. In such a case, Rabbi Yehuda says he must pay for what was hidden in the stack, while the Sages say that he need only pay the value of a stack of wheat or barley. If a goat was tied to the stack or a servant was near it and they burned in the fire, the one who lit it is liable. If the servant was tied to the stack or the goat was near it and they burned, he is exempt. [He is exempt for payment in the case of a tied servant because it is now a capital crime and there are no financial penalties in capital cases.] The Sages agree with Rabbi Yehuda that if one sets fire to a building, he pays for whatever was in it because it’s normal for people to leave things in houses.