S.C. lawmaker introduces bill to increase burning penalties after wildfires
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WMBF) - The impact of recent wildfires is leading one lawmaker in the South Carolina House of Representatives to update state laws on burning.
Rep. Tim McGinnis, District 56, and other co-sponsors filed bill H. 4265 on Thursday. The bill proposes increasing the penalties for the criminal charge of “regulation of fires on certain lands.”
That charge is notably one that a woman faces after allegedly sparking a 2,200-acre wildfire in Carolina Forest earlier this month.
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If the bill is approved, the maximum fine for the charge on the first offense would increase from $2,000 to $5,000, and prison time for the first offense would move from a maximum of 30 days to a maximum of a year.
For a second offense or more, the minimum fine would increase from $500 to $2,000, and the maximum fine would be $25,000. Prison time would increase from a maximum of 60 days to a maximum of three years.
McGinnis, who represents Horry County, first indicated he would file a bill of this nature at a news conference on the Carolina Forest wildfire earlier this month.
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The action also comes amid another large wildfire in the Upstate that’s burned over 4,500 acres as of Thursday afternoon.
Here in the CSRA, Aiken County fire crews battled multiple fires on Wednesday afternoon.
A total of four fires threatened homes and triggered evacuations for some in the area.
The bill was referred to the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee after it was introduced in the House.
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