Recklessly causing a fire is defined by California Penal Code Section 452 which states, “A person is guilty of unlawfully causing a fire when he recklessly sets fire to or burns or causes to be burned, any structure, forest land or property." Recklessness occurs when a person knows that one's actions have an unjustifiable risk of leading to a certain result, but did not care about that risk and acted anyway. The classification of this crime is a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for no more than a year. A felony is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison. There are situations where the crime may be classified and punished as either a felony or a misdemeanor, in which case this crime is termed a “wobbler." A wobbler is determined by the prosecution to be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony, and may be punished as one or the other by the judge.



In addition to serving time in prison or county jail, a person convicted of recklessly causing a fire may be ordered to pay a fine of up to $50,000, unless a greater amount is provided by law.

If the fire causes great bodily injury, it is punishable as a wobbler by a fine and either imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 4, or 6 years, or by imprisonment in the county jail, up to one year.

If the fire burns an inhabited structure or inhabited property, it is a wobbler, punishable by a fine and either imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or by imprisonment in the county jail, up to one year.

If the fire burns structure or forest land, it is a wobbler, punishable by fine and imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3 years or imprisonment in the county jail for up to 6 months.

A felony conviction may be enhanced by a 1, 2, or 3 year term for each of the following

circumstances that is found to be true, as defined by Penal Code Section 452.1:

(1) The defendant has been previously convicted of a felony violation of Section 451 or 452.

(2) A firefighter, peace officer, or other emergency personnel suffered great bodily injury as a result of the offense. The additional term provided by this subdivision shall be imposed whenever applicable, including any instance in which there is a violation of subdivision (a) of Section 452.

(3) The defendant proximately caused great bodily injury to more than one victim in any single violation of Section 452. The additional term provided by this subdivision shall be imposed whenever applicable, including any instance in which there is a violation of subdivision (a) of Section 452.

(4) The defendant proximately caused multiple structures to burn in any single violation of Section 452.



It is a misdemeanor to cause a fire to property. This does not include burning one’s own possessions, unless there is some ulterior motive like insurance benefits. But if the burning of one’s possessions causes injury to another person or to someone else’s land or property, then it will be punished as recklessly causing fire.