"Pyro" Brown fined for forest fire

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., has been fined $250 by the U.S. Forest Service for his part in a fire that spread from his Berkeley County property to burn 20 acres of national forest land.

According to The Post and Courier:

U.S. Forest Service officials delivered a $250 ticket to Brown's Capitol Hill office on Friday while the congressman was in the Lowcountry.

Agriculture officials say Brown was fined after an "extensive investigation" for the sake of "consistency" in their law enforcement policy. For now, however, officials say Brown will not be charged for the cost of putting out the fire -- estimated at $4,000 to $7,000 -- because the agency is reviewing that policy.

Dan Jiron, a spokesman for the agency, said Friday the review is being done because of flaws in the law that Brown pointed out.

But the ticket only seemed to fan Brown's incendiary rhetoric, instead of cooling him to accept blame for his own incompetence:

"It's an arrogance in the government, and not just because it's Henry Brown, but everybody," Brown said. "It's a real equity issue as far as I'm concerned. There is no consideration for no-fault accidents in the code. I just felt like the fire was out of my control."

Earlier, Brown blamed the forest fire on an "act of God." Forest Service officials say they'll continue to investigate whether Brown used his position as a congressman to get special treatment.

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• Washington Post