Torchi pays burning fines months after wildfire

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HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - The man questioned by authorities in the days following the Horry County Wildfire has paid his fines in connection to a fire he set on his property.

In April, Marc Torchi was slapped with $732 in fines for not notifying the South Carolina Forestry Commission of a burn and for allowing the fire to spread to the land of another. Investigators say the Conway resident had been burning household garbage on April 18 when strong winds allowed the "extinguished" fire to rekindle.

Torchi pled guilty in October to a Central Jury Court judge in Myrtle Beach for his fire-related offenses. His fine, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission, was 50 cents less than the maximum penalty.

Darryl Jones, protection chief for the SCFC, says an investigation pointed officials to the origin area in Torchi's backyard as the same origin point of the Horry County Wildfire. The fire spread to more than 16,000 acres in Horry County, destroying 76 homes and damaging nearly 100 others.

The SCFC is not holding Torchi criminally responsible for starting the wildfire.

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