Penal Code § 452 PC – Unlawfully Causing a Fire (Reckless Burning)

Penal Code § 452 PC is the California statute that makes it a crime to recklessly set fire to or burn any:

• structure,
• forest land, or
• property.

Examples of Reckless Burning:

• throwing a burning cigarette into a dry bush
• lights a match next to highly flammable materials
• burning your company’s business files immediately next to your neighbor’s home, causing the neighbor’s house to catch fire

The full text of the code section reads as follows:

PC 452. A person is guilty of unlawfully causing a fire when they recklessly set fire to, burn, or cause to be burned any structure, forest land, or property.

(a) Unlawfully causing a fire that causes great bodily injury is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or six years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine, or by both such imprisonment and fine.

(b) Unlawfully causing a fire that causes an inhabited structure or inhabited property to burn is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine, or by both such imprisonment and fine.

(c) Unlawfully causing a fire of a structure or forest land is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, two or three years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by a fine, or by both such imprisonment and fine.

(d) Unlawfully causing a fire of property is a misdemeanor. For purposes of this paragraph, unlawfully causing a fire of property does not include one burning or causing to be burned their own personal property unless there is injury to another person or to another person’s structure, forest land, or property.

(e) In the case of any person convicted of violating this section while confined in a state prison, prison road camp, prison forestry camp, or other prison camp or prison farm, or while confined in a county jail while serving a term of imprisonment for a felony or misdemeanor conviction, any sentence imposed shall be consecutive to the sentence for which the person was then confined.

(f) For purposes of sentencing for a violation of this section, the fact that the offense was carried out within a merchant’s premises in order to facilitate organized retail theft, as defined in Section 490.4, shall be a factor in aggravation.

Note that PC 452 is one of two California arson laws. The other is Penal Code 451, Malicious Arson.

Defenses

Luckily, there are several legal defenses you can raise if accused under PC 452. These include showing that you:

• did not act “recklessly,”,
• were falsely accused, and/or
• were arrested without probable cause.

Penalties

Basic reckless burning of personal property under PC 452 is a misdemeanor. Though if there are any aggravating factors, it becomes a wobbler offense: This means that it may be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or a felony.

The following chart shows the sentencing ranges for reckless burning.

PC 452 Crime	Punishments
Reckless burning with no aggravating factors	Misdemeanor: Up to 6 months in county jail and/or $1,000
Reckless burning of a structure or forest land	Misdemeanor: Up to 6 months in county jail and/or $1,000 or Felony: 16 months, 2 years, or 3 years in state prison and/or up to $10,0001
Reckless burning of an inhabited structure or inhabited property	Misdemeanor: Up to 1 year in county jail and/or $1,000 or Felony: 2, 3, or 4 years in state prison and/or up to $10,000
Reckless burning causing great bodily injury	Misdemeanor: Up to 1 year in county jail and/or $1,000 or Felony: 2, 4, or 6 years in state prison and/or up to $10,0002

Our California criminal defense attorneys address the following in this article:

• 1. What is reckless burning?
• 2. Defenses
• 3. Penalties
• 4. Related Crimes
• Additional Reading

1. What is reckless burning?

For you to be convicted of reckless burning under California Penal Code 452 PC, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following elements of the jury instructions:

1. You set fire to or caused the burning of a structure, forest land, or other property; and
2. You did so recklessly.³

You act “recklessly” if:

1. you are aware that your actions could present a substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing a fire,
2. you ignore that risk, and
3. doing so is a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would act in the same situation.⁴

“Reckless” is actually a high standard and is not synonymous with carelessness or negligence. True “accidents”—such as forgetting to turn off the stove—do not make you guilty of reckless burning.

However, acting with a complete disregard for safety may.

2. Defenses

Here at Shouse Law Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with property crimes, including reckless burning. In our experience, the following three defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judge, and juries at getting these charges reduced or dismissed.

You Were Not Being Reckless

Many fires are started by accident. We have also seen cases where defendants did everything correctly to safely extinguish a fire, but a stray ember later ignited a blaze.

Either way, we would compile all the available evidence to show that your actions did not rise to the level of recklessness. Examples include eyewitness accounts, video surveillance footage, and even expert testimony by pyrotechnicians.

As long as there is any reasonable doubt as to your guilt, the PC 452 charges should be dismissed.

You Were Falsely Accused

It is not uncommon for the real culprits behind starting a fire to lay the blame on someone else. In these cases, we would subpoena the accusers’ GPS data, text messages, and voicemails in attempt to place them at the crime scene and show their motivation to lie.

Once we show prosecutors they are charging the wrong person, your case should be dropped.

The Police Had No Probable Cause

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that police must have probable cause that you committed reckless burning before they can arrest you for it. Unfortunately, we have seen many law enforcement officers “jump the gun” and take suspects into custody without sufficient evidence.

If we can show the police in your case had no probable cause, then any evidence obtained following your false arrest could get excluded from the case. This exclusion could force the D.A. to drop your case for lack of proof.

3. Penalties

Basic reckless burning of personal property under PC 452 is a misdemeanor.⁵ The potential penalties are:

• Imprisonment in a county jail for up to six months, and/or
• A fine of up to $1,000.⁶

If reckless burning results in a burned structure or forestland or causes great bodily injury, then the crime becomes a wobbler offense. This means that it may be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or felony.

The potential sentences when reckless arson is a wobbler are:

• For reckless burning of a structure or forest land, up to six months in county jail (misdemeanor sentence), or sixteen months, two years or three years in state prison (felony sentence);⁷
• For reckless burning of an inhabited structure or inhabited property, up to one year in county jail (misdemeanor sentence), or two, three or four years in state prison (felony sentence);⁸ and
• For reckless burning that causes great bodily injury, up to one year in county jail (misdemeanor sentence), or two, four or six years in state prison (felony sentence).⁹

Note that courts will consider it an “aggravating factor” during sentencing if the burning was carried out within a merchant’s premises to commit organized retail theft.¹⁰

4. Related Crimes

1. Malicious arson – PC 451,
2. Trespass – PC 602, and
3. Bribery, including:
   • bribery involving executive and ministerial officers and public employees – PC 67 and 68,
   • bribery involving California legislative officers – PC 85 and 86, and
   • bribery involving supervisors and public corporations – PC 165.

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