Three South Carolina men and a juvenile were charged with a misdemeanor Tuesday after authorities said their failure to properly put out their cigarettes sparked the Table Rock Fire, which has burned more than 13,000 acres.
Nyzaire Jah-Neiz Marsh, 19, of Taylors, and Tristan Tyler and Isaac Wilson, both 18, of Greenville, were arrested Tuesday morning and charged with one count each of negligently allowing fire to spread to lands or property of another, the South Carolina Forestry Commission said.
A juvenile whose name and age were not released was also charged but was not booked and was released to their parents, officials said.
The Table Rock Fire was sparked by their handling of cigarettes while they were hiking in Table Rock State Park on March 21, the Forestry Commission said.
Arrest warrant affidavits allege “the suspects took part in smoking activities on a hiking trail at the state park and did not extinguish their cigarettes in a proper and safe manner, which officials allege led to the ignition of the Table Rock Fire,” the Forestry Commission said.
The fire was 30% contained Tuesday. No injuries have been reported.
Authorities were searching for a missing hiker on March 21 when Pickens County sheriff’s deputies and state park personnel came upon the rapidly growing wildfire, officials said.
They got seven hikers in all to safety and questioned them about how it started, the Forestry Commission said.
Pickens County Sheriff Tommy Blankenship said on the evening of March 21 that investigators had identified the hikers who started the fire.
Attempts to reach Marsh, Tyler and Wilson by phone Tuesday evening were not immediately successful. Online court records did not list attorneys for them.
They were all released on personal recognizance bonds of $7,500 apiece, the Forestry Commission said.
The charge of negligently allowing fire to spread to lands or property of another is a misdemeanor punishable with a minimum of five days in jail and a maximum of 30 days in jail if convicted or a fine of $25 to $200.
The Table Rock Fire is burning mostly in South Carolina, but a part is in North Carolina.
In South Carolina, 12,652 acres have burned, and 635 acres have burned in North Carolina, the Forestry Commission said in a daily update.
Around 1½ inches of rain that fell on the fire complex has "significantly reducing fire activity," the commission said Tuesday.
South Carolina is in its annual wildfire season, and the U.S. Drought Monitor largely classifies both it and North Carolina as either "abnormally dry" or in moderate drought.
A second large fire in South Carolina, the Persimmon Ridge Fire, had ceased growth by Tuesday and was at 2,078 acres and 74% containment, the commission said.
The danger of forest fires in South Carolina is typically highest from January through mid-April, the commission says on its website, because that's when most of the vegetation is either dead or dormant.
