[CoffeeBean] Yet Another Quite Fitting Name

[CoffeeBean]

Several years ago in a small United States town a discovery was made.

People in nearby towns soon learned of the discovery.

While the discovery was being discussed, it was impossible to locate the person who started the process that led to the discovery.

When people in the small town identified the person who was most likely responsible for what was discovered, he denied it. But when residents saw or heard his last name, there was a somewhat humorous coincidence (although not too many people laughed about it).

Can you guess the man's name and the discovery that was traced to him?

This was inspired by the puzzle that was just solved (about super glue), but really has nothing in common with it besides the overall premise

[Grip]

Several years ago = over 50? 20? 10?

Relevant in what state the small town and the discovery was?

The man = human? over 30? relevant?

The discovery = was it something physical? of gold? oil? fossils? precious jewels?
was it of more a discovery of information? a process? did it have historical value? was the discovery considered a positive one? negative? neutral?

[GalFisk]

A scientific discovery? A find? Gold relevant? Astronomy? Invention? Chemistry? Math? Mining? Geography? Biology? Physics? Geology? Archaeology? Anthropology? Was something rare or unique found?

[CoffeeBean]

Several years ago = over 50? 20? 10? It was in 2010 (I remember this because of how old my daughter was at the time)

Relevant in what state the small town and the discovery was? It was in a town in South Carolina. I'm not sure if anyone who lives outside of the vicinity will know about this, but it was on local news stations for a few weeks.

The man = human? over 30? relevant? I think he was in his 40's but it's not really important

The discovery = was it something physical? Yes (but an FA may arise) of gold? oil? fossils? precious jewels? Nothing like this
was it of more a discovery of information? a process? Not really
did it have historical value? No was the discovery considered a positive one? No...negative?...yes, VERY negative. neutral? No

A scientific (no) discovery? Yes, something was discovered A find? Of a sort, yes Gold relevant? Astronomy? Invention? Chemistry? Math? Mining? Geography? Biology? Physics? Geology? Archaeology? Anthropology? Not any of these
Was something rare or unique found? It was unique to this part of the state, yes

[Grip]

Was the discovery related to natural disasters? was the discovery dangerous? was it of human remains? is crime relevant?

Animals relevant?

Did the man somehow create the conditions of the discovery?

[CoffeeBean]

Was the discovery related to natural disasters? Yes was the discovery dangerous? Yes, very
was it of human remains? No is crime relevant? Yes

Animals relevant? Only to a secondary degree

Did the man somehow create the conditions of the discovery? Nobody ever knew for sure. He denied it although the circumstances led many to believe that if it wasn't for him, this wouldn't have been discovered.

[Grip]

Is the related natural disaster hurricanes? flooding? tornadoes? Do you live in SC? If so, as a fellow member of a South Atlantic state, we are both all too familiar with those three!

Is the relevant crime murder? robbery? fraud? endangering the public?

Is dynamite relevant? explosives? drugs?

[GalFisk]

Was it a past disaster? Possible disaster? Impending disaster? Is the disaster in question related to water? Weather? Fire? Earth/ground? Ecology? Poison? Disease? Was something dangerous dumped or abandoned?

[CoffeeBean]

Is the related natural disaster hurricanes? flooding? tornadoes? None of these (but see below)
Do you live in SC? I don't, I was visiting at the time
If so, as a fellow member of a South Atlantic state, we are both all too familiar with those three! Right, and keep in mind that this one was much more rare for this area of SC

Is the relevant crime murder? robbery? fraud? None of these endangering the public? That's part of it...

Is dynamite relevant? explosives? drugs? No

Was it a past disaster? Possible disaster? Impending disaster? Mostly this, at least for most of the people involved
Is the disaster in question related to water? Weather? Fire? <---THIS Earth/ground? This as well to some degree Ecology? Poison? Disease? No
Was something dangerous dumped or abandoned? Yes

[Grip]

Is this related to wildfires? drought?

Is the related crime arson?

Did this man leave a campfire or some other source of fire unattended? and it burned down trees/houses and the like?

[Twilightseeker]

Did the man discovered something that was highly flammable?

[Balin]

Was his name Burns?

[Zanreo]

First name relevant? Last name? Whole name?

Did the name sound like: Fire? Flame? Burn? Torch? Blaze? Flare?

[CoffeeBean]

Is this related to wildfires? Yes drought? No
Is the related crime arson? No
Did this man leave a campfire or some other source of fire unattended? He says he didn't, but neighbors and firefighters say he did...and it burned down trees/houses and the like? Yes
Did the man discovered something that was highly flammable? No
Was his name Burns? Good guess but no, something even better...
First name relevant? Last name? Whole name? Just the last name
Did the name sound like: Fire? Flame? Burn? Torch? <--THIS Blaze? Flare?


*SPOILER*

This happened in April of 2009 in Conway, SC. My family was visiting a nearby town and were alarmed to hear news reports of a wildfire nearby. The staff at our hotel said they had never experienced a wildfire in the area and they didn't know if we should evacuate or not. As the fire got closer to us (we could see the flames above the treetops), we decided to pack up and leave town. After we got home we saw reports that a local man, Marc Torchi had been identified as the guilty person. He had burned some leaves and yard debris in his back yard, and authorities claimed that a few days later the embers were still hot and caused some grass and trees nearby to catch fire and quickly spread to hundreds of acres nearby. Even though Torchi insisted he had put the fire completely out, firefighters said that some of the embers were still hot and the wind blew them into areas with grass, bushes and trees that caught on fire.

Great job on the quick solve!

[Grip]

That was somewhat of a team solve at the end which is rather neat!

Nice puzzle too!