[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.