[If] one causes a fire through a deaf-mute, a mentally deranged person, or a minor, he is exempt by the laws of man, but liable by the laws of Heaven. [If] he causes it through one of sound mind, the one of sound mind is liable.  [If] one brings the fire and one brings the wood, the one who brings the wood is liable; [if] one brings the wood and one brings the fire, the one who brings the fire is liable. [If] another one comes along and fans it, the one who fans it is liable; should the wind fan it, all are exempt.  [If] one sets a fire and it consumes wood, stones, or earth, he is liable, as it says (Exodus 22:5): If a fire goes forth and comes across thorns, and a stack of grain, or standing grain, or a field is consumed, the one who ignited the fire shall surely pay. [If] it crosses a fence four cubits high, or a public road, or a river, he is exempt.  [If] one ignites a fire within his own property, how far can the fire cross? R' Elazar ben Azariah says: We view it as though it were in the middle of a kor's space of land. R' Eliezer says: Sixteen cubits, like a public highway. R' Akiva says: Fifty cubits. R' Shimon says: The one who ignited the fire shall pay —- all is according to the fire.

[If] one ignites a stack of grain, and utensils were in it, and they burned —- R' Yehudah says: He must pay for what was inside it; the Sages, however, say: He pays only for a stack of wheat or of barley.  [If] there was a kid bound to it and a slave near it, and it was burned with it, he is liable; a slave bound to it and a kid near it, and it was burned with it, he is exempt.  The Sages concur with R' Yehudah in [the case of] one igniting a large tower, that he pays for all that was inside it, for it is cus-tomary for people to place [things] in houses.

[If] a spark flies out from under a hammer and damages, he is liable. [If] a camel that is laden with flax stands in the public domain, and its flax protrudes into a shop, catches fire from the shopkeeper's lamp and ignites a large tower, the owner of the camel is liable. [If] the shopkeeper leaves his lamp outside, the shopkeeper is liable. R' Yehudah says: In [the case of] a Chanukah light, he is exempt.

The rule of twofold payment is more inclusive than the rule of fourfold and fivefold payments, for the rule of twofold payment applies both to living things and to inanimate things, whereas the rule of fourfold and fivefold payments applies exclusively with regard to an ox or a lamb, as it is said (Exodus 21:37): If a man steals an ox or a lamb and slaughters it or sells it ...  One who steals after a thief does not pay the twofold payment, nor does one who slaughters or sells after a thief pay the fourfold or fivefold payment.