CRIME & COURTS

Three Charged In Pickens County As Table Rock Complex Rages On

With more than 15,300 acres burned, state officials have yet to say whether the three arrests are tied the South Carolina Upstate’s largest wildfire.

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Three individuals have been charged by the South Carolina Forestry Commission (SCFC) in Pickens Coun
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5 comments

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The Colonel Top fan April 1, 2025 at 1:31 pm

Un-effing believable! Federal law only offers six months and $1,000. The penalty for this should be a fine roughly equivalent to the cost to the government to fight the fire.

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Anonymous April 1, 2025 at 3:47 pm

They can’t do that, because the police have no evidence that these boys started the fire!! It seems like the sheriff need someone to “bring to justice” to get some kudos. The only evidence they had was that they, among several others, were hiking while the fire was blazing, and one hiker mentioned that one of the boys was smoking. The boys were at the top of the mountain and they saw that there was a fire on the mountain and fled back down the trail. Why would they set a fire intentionally and then continue their hike to the top of the mountain?

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The Colonel Top fan April 2, 2025 at 11:20 am

Apparently, there was adequate evidence to charge them – I suspect it was more than just someone seeing them smoking cigarettes. There wasn’t any need to “rush to judgement”, lightening starts way more fire than humans do but when “dumbassery” is the clear cause of a fire the dumbasses should be held to account.

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Garrett Reed April 1, 2025 at 3:48 pm

They can’t do that, because the police have no evidence that these boys started the fire!! It seems like the sheriff need someone to “bring to justice” to get some kudos. The only evidence they had was that they, among several others, were hiking while the fire was blazing, and one hiker mentioned that one of the boys was smoking. The boys were at the top of the mountain and they saw that there was a fire on the mountain and fled back down the trail. Why would they set a fire intentionally and then continue their hike to the top of the mountain?

Reply
Medium April 2, 2025 at 9:12 am

This case raises serious concerns about South Carolina’s wildfire laws. If three young adults truly sparked a fire that burned over 15,000 acres and cost millions in damage, how can a maximum penalty of $200 or 30 days in jail be considered justice? The law needs urgent reform—negligence of this scale shouldn’t be treated as a minor offense. What do you think? Should penalties for wildfire negligence be harsher?

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