Arson

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“Arsonists” redirects here. For the rap group, see Arsonists (rap group).

Criminal law

Part of the common law series
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Actus reus · Causation · Concurrence
Mens rea · Intention (general)
Intention in English law · Recklessness
Willful blindness · Criminal negligence
Ignorantia juris non excusat
Vicarious liability · Corporate liability
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Felony/Indictable · Hybrid offence
Misdemeanor/Summary
Infraction
Lesser included offense
Crimes against the person
Assault · Battery · Robbery
Kidnapping · Rape
Mayhem · Manslaughter · Murder
Crimes against property
Burglary · Larceny · Arson
Embezzlement · False pretenses
Extortion · Forgery · Computer crime
Crimes against justice
Obstruction of justice · Bribery
Perjury · Misprision of felony
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Solicitation · Attempt
Conspiracy · Accessory
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Contract law · Tort law · Property law
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Portals: Law · Criminal justice

Arson, called fireraising in Scots law, is the crime of setting a fire for an unlawful or improper purpose. The criminal damage of property in English law has been consolidated into a single offence in the Criminal Damage Act 1971 although the use of the word has been retained.

[edit] Motivation

The Skyline Parkway Motel in Afton, Virginia after an arson fire on July 9, 2004.

The motives of arsonists vary. The possibility of financial gain often drives arsonists to file fraudulent insurance claim after setting fire.

Vandalism is frequently behind arsons perpetrated by juvenile fire setters. Vandalism through fire can occur in vacant or abandoned buildings. Cities often regulate or encourage owners to secure vacant buildings. Fire departments aggressively attack fires in abandoned buildings out of concern transient or homeless people may be dwelling inside.

Domestic violence sometimes results in arson. Victims’ property is often damaged or destroyed, compromising physical safety and sometimes causing personal injury and in some cases, it can be used for murder. Revenge motivation can generate dangerous fires, as a fire setter’s acts of rage contributes to the conflagration. Disgruntled firefighters have occassionally been known to start arson out of revenge, namely those extremely angry at losing their jobs or have numerous grievances with a fire station and hope that the fire chief or other superiors may perish in the arson fire they started.

Some arsonists set fires that allow them to appear as heroes, rescuing endangered people or extinguishing the fire themselves. The "hero effect" is most often committed by firefighters who are bored with the lack of fires or are seeking commendation for extinguishing their own arson acts.

Man-made forest fires are frequent in the summers of the Galicia region of Spain. Several causes are proposed, including the change of commonal property to government-owned forests, sales of cheap burnt wood, envies against neighbors, intention to sell the land for urban development, disgruntled former firefighters, and distraction of the police by drug smugglers.

Some acts of arson are politically motivated. For example, an enviromental group known as the Earth Liberation Front committed arson to spread its message of environmental protection. The Nazi allegedly burned down the parliamentary building of the German Empire in the 1933 Reichstag fire. The incident gave the Nazi party a leeway to introduce the Reichstag Fire Decree, one of the key steps which eventually led to the Nazi control of Germany.

The Roman emperor Nero ordered the Great Fire of Rome, which erupted on the night of July 18, 64. The fire started from the shops selling flammable goods at the southeastern end of the Circus Maximus and lasted reportedly for nine days.

[edit] Arson in fiction

The movie Backdraft centers on the relationships of firefighters confronting a series of arson fires.

Point of Origin, the HBO movie based on a book by a former fire investigator and convicted serial arsonist John Orr, tells the story of an investigator (Ray Liotta) searching for the perpetrator of a string of deadly fires in the 1980s in California. It shows the method used by the arsonist to set fire and employs the technique of backward trick photography to show the "point of origin" of the inflammation.

In the CBS TV show NUMB3RS, a C.S.I. investigation of an arson-related fire at an SUV dealership and other buildings involves finding a college-age arsonist and who persuaded him to do it. The episode also featured Bill Nye ("The Science Guy") as a special guest.

The British TV drama series London's Burning, based on the activities of the London Fire Brigade, also shows cases of arson.

Arson, literally and figuratively, is a major theme of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and is recurringly employed by the villainous Count Olaf and his associates, often referenced in the series' complex backstory and increasingly committed by the books' protagonists. Each act of arson is portrayed as a tragedy, but as the Baudelaire orphans mature, the arsonists' motivations are increasingly understood to be complex and not wholly evil.

Much of the first season of Six Feet Under deals with a case of arson.

In Stephene King's Carrie, a girl with telekinesis uses her power to commit arson to her entire home town, after being picked on at her school prom. There is also a definition, 'to pull a Carrie', meaning to commit arson, used in the book.