Fined vs. fine

If you put your half-full cans of paint, turpentine, gasoline, bleach or even household garbage into a barrel, then burned it in your own yard, you get fined.

But when the equivalent of dozens or even hundreds of burn barrels explode several hundred feet into the air, resulting in a fire and a huge plume that rages for the better part of a day, officials rush to assure everyone that it’s just fine.