ASSEMBLY, No. 1846

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MAY 2, 1996

By Assemblymen HOLZAPFEL and WOLFE

An Act concerning the crime of arson and amending N.J.S.2C:17-1.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. N.J.S.2C:17-1 is amended to read as follows:

    2C:17-1. Arson and related offenses.

    a. Aggravated arson. A person is guilty of aggravated arson, a crime of the second degree, if he starts a fire or causes an explosion, whether on his own property or another's:

    (1) Thereby purposely or knowingly placing another person in danger of death or bodily injury; or

    (2) With the purpose of destroying a building or structure of another; or

    (3) With the purpose of collecting insurance for the destruction or damage to such property under circumstances which recklessly place any other person in danger of death or bodily injury; or

    (4) With the purpose of destroying any forest.

    b. Arson. A person is guilty of arson, a crime of the third degree, if he purposely starts a fire or causes an explosion, whether on his own

 property or another's:

    (1) Thereby recklessly placing another person in danger of death or bodily injury; or

    (2) Thereby recklessly placing a building or structure of another in danger of damage or destruction; or

    (3) With the purpose of collecting insurance for the destruction or damage to such property; or

    (4) Thereby recklessly placing a forest in danger of damage or destruction.

    c. Failure to control or report dangerous fire. A person who knows that a fire is endangering life or a substantial amount of property of another and either fails to take reasonable measures to put out or control the fire, when he can do so without substantial risk to himself, or to give prompt fire alarm, commits a crime of the fourth degree if:

    (1) He knows that he is under an official, contractual, or other legal duty to prevent or combat the fire; or

    (2) The fire was started, albeit lawfully, by him or with his assent, or on property in his custody or control.

    d. Any person who, directly or indirectly, pays or accepts any form of consideration including, but not limited to, money or any other pecuniary benefit, for the purpose of starting a fire or causing an explosion in violation of this section commits a crime of the first degree.

    e. Notwithstanding the provisions of any section of this Title to the contrary, if a person is convicted of aggravated arson pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of this section and the structure which was the target of the offense was a health care facility or a physician's office, the sentence imposed shall include a term of imprisonment. The court may not suspend or make any other noncustodial disposition of a person sentenced pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.

    f. Definitions. "Structure" is defined in section 2C:18-1. Property is that of another, for the purpose of this section, if any one other than the actor has a possessory proprietary interest therein. If a building or structure is divided into separately occupied units, any unit not occupied by the actor is an occupied structure of another.

    As used in this section, "forest" means and includes any forest, brush land, grass land, salt marsh, wooded area and any combination thereof.

    As used in this section, "health care facility" means health care facility as defined in section 2 of P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-2).

(cf: P.L.1991, c.498, s.1.)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately .

STATEMENT

    This bill amends the arson statute, N.J.S.2C:17-1 to provide a criminal sanction for setting so-called "brush fires". While N.J.S.2C:17-2, the crime of causing or risking widespread injury or damage may have applicability in certain situations, it is limited because that statute requires that a risk of serious bodily injury be posed to a minimum number of persons or habitations or to a building which would normally contain 50 or more people at the time of the offense. Given those requirements, that statute may not address the problem of brush fires depending on the circumstances.

    The bill amends the second degree crime of arson to include starting a fire or causing an explosion with the purpose of destroying a forest.

It makes a similar change in subsection b. by adding a new paragraph (4) concerning the third degree crime of arson.

Specifically includes brush fires in the crime of arson.