HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) -- A state lawmaker whose House district includes Carolina Forest wants to dramatically ramp up penalties for people convicted of starting fires on public lands. State Rep. Tim McGinnis, R-Myrtle Beach, says he wants an update to the 63-year-old law that right now only s ets fines of between $200 and $500 and a maximum jail time of 30 days. "That's not enough to make you think twice, I think," he said. "You know, you can get traffic violations that will set you back more than that. McGinnis on Wednesday shared with News13 a draft version of the updated law, which sets fines of between $1,000 and $5,000 and a minimum one-year jail sentence for first offenses: Subsequent ones could bring fines of up to $25,000 and three years' imprisonment. "You think twice before you get behind the wheel of an automobile if you've been drinking because, you know the costs that could come with it," he said "And I wanted the same thing to be done for burning." McGinnis says he hopes higher penalties deter those from burning during a ban. He says he's heard support from both fire and forestry officials. "We're so fortunate that we didn't lose any property, and we didn't have any firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty," he said. "And I don't want to see our firefighters be put in that position again because of somebody's neglect." With more than 12.8 million acres of forestland statewide, officials say taking care of that land must be a shared responsibility. A 2023 Congressional Research Service paper said 89% of all wildfires between 2018 and 2022 were human-caused. “Part of team South Carolina are it’s people, and so when the governor and local folks do a burning ban, that is for a reason. And even if there’s not a burning ban, you have to work with your fire department to make sure there’s not something going on that you don’t know about,” Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette told News13 at a March 8 stop in Conway. State Forester Scott Phillips said he supports lawmakers revisiting penalties for people convicted of starting fires on public lands. “The fines and fees that are on our tickets are very old, most of those originated in the 60s so it does deserve looking at, and we’re looking forward to evaluating that with the General Assembly,” he said. ...read more read less