Arson

The [[Old English]] term was {{lang|ang|bærnet}}, lit. "burning"; and [[Edward Coke]] has [[indictment]] of ''burning'' (1640). ''Arsonist'' is from 1864.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hw1cX0FpTcMC&dq=arsonist&pg=PA467|title=A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles|website=www.books.google.com|access-date=November 13, 2023|archive-date=November 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113115134/https://books.google.com/books?id=hw1cX0FpTcMC&pg=PA467&dq=arsonist&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgxcuYlb-CAxUZm2oFHfjuCtY4HhDoAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=arsonist&f=false|url-status=live |last1=Murray |first1=James Augustus Henry |last2=Craigie |first2=Sir William Alexander |last3=Onions |first3=Charles Talbut |date=December 2, 1888 }}

The [[Old English]] term was {{lang|ang|bærnet}}, lit. "burning"; and [[Edward Coke]] has [[indictment]] of ''burning'' (1640). ''Arsonist'' is from 1864.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hw1cX0FpTcMC&dq=arsonist&pg=PA467|title=A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles|website=www.books.google.com|access-date=November 13, 2023|archive-date=November 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113115134/https://books.google.com/books?id=hw1cX0FpTcMC&pg=PA467&dq=arsonist&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgxcuYlb-CAxUZm2oFHfjuCtY4HhDoAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=arsonist&f=false|url-status=live |last1=Murray |first1=James Augustus Henry |last2=Craigie |first2=Sir William Alexander |last3=Onions |first3=Charles Talbut |date=December 2, 1888 }}

== Insurance fraud ==

== Motivations ==

Arson has been a documented practice for centuries{{Cite journal |last=Hamilton|first=Louis I.|date=April 1, 2003|title=Memory, Symbol, and Arson: Was Rome "Sacked" in 1084?|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1017/S0038713400168617|journal=Speculum|language=en|volume=78|issue=2|pages=378–399|doi=10.1017/S0038713400168617|issn=0038-7134}}. Arson (sometime called "fire setting" in scholarly literature{{Citation |last=Doley|first=Rebekah M.|title=Assessment of firesetters|date=2012|work=Firesetting and mental health|pages=184–205|editor-last=Dickens|editor-first=G L|url=http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/usefulresources/publications/books/rcpp/9781908020376.aspx|access-date=2026-04-18|place=London|publisher=Royal College of Psychiatrists|isbn=978-1-908020-37-6|last2=Watt|first2=Bruce D.|editor2-last=Sugarman|editor2-first=P A|editor3-last=Gannon|editor3-first=T A}}) may have varying motivations, and can be difficult to [[Offender profiling|profile]]Dara Mojtahedi., et al. “Making an Arsonist: A Psychological Approach to Understanding Expressive Arson”. EC Psychology and Psychiatry 4.3 (2017): 94-99. Arson may be committed for a number of reasons. The wide variety of these motivations, along with limitations on [[Cohort study|cohort]] size, and variations in the scholarly, legal, social, and psychological definitions of arson/fire setting makes generalizations difficult{{Cite journal |last=Green|first=Bob|last2=Lowry|first2=Timothy J.|last3=Pathé|first3=Michele|last4=McVie|first4=Ness|date=2014-11-02|title=Firesetting Patterns, Symptoms and Motivations of Insanity Acquittees Charged with Arson Offences|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13218719.2014.918080|journal=Psychiatry, Psychology and Law|language=en|volume=21|issue=6|pages=937–946|doi=10.1080/13218719.2014.918080|issn=1321-8719}}{{Cite book |last=Dalhuisen|first=L.|url=http://hdl.handle.net/1874/436248|title=Explaining arson|date=2015|publisher=Eleven international publishing|isbn=978-94-6236-616-9|language=en}}.

A common motive for arson is to commit insurance fraud. In such cases, a person destroys their own property by burning it and then lies about the cause to collect against their [[insurance policy]].

One or more individuals may commit arson during a [[riot]] as an act of vandalism, or during [[civil disorder]]{{Cite web |title=Third night of trouble in Paris suburb following teenage deaths - Yahoo! News|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051030/wl_afp/franceriotpolice_051030022906|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051112210102/https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051030/wl_afp/franceriotpolice_051030022906|archive-date=2005-11-12|access-date=2026-04-06|website=news.yahoo.com}} or an [[ethnic cleansing]]{{Cite book |last=Dekel-Chen|first=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AUYQ8JQ-iM0C&lpg=PA87&vq=90%20full-scale&pg=PA57#v=snippet&q=%20burn&f=false|title=Anti-Jewish Violence: Rethinking the Pogrom in East European History|last2=Gaunt|first2=David|last3=Meir|first3=Natan M.|last4=Bartal|first4=Israel|date=2010-11-26|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-00478-9|language=en}} as an [[act of war]]United States. War Department. [https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146045/m1/754/?q=%22use+fire+until+toward+the+last+moment%22 The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 39, In Three Parts. Part 3], Correspondence, etc., book, 1892; Washington D.C., (accessed April 6, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department., [[terrorism]] or act of political protest{{Cite web |last=(www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche Welle|title=Hong Kong protests: Molotov cocktails thrown in metro station {{!}} DW {{!}} 12.10.2019|url=https://www.dw.com/en/hong-kong-protests-molotov-cocktails-thrown-in-metro-station/a-50806459|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930151429/https://www.dw.com/en/hong-kong-protests-molotov-cocktails-thrown-in-metro-station/a-50806459|archive-date=2022-09-30|access-date=2026-04-08|website=DW.COM|language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Atkinson|first=Diane|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qBr2sgEACAAJ|title=Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes|date=2019-02-07|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc|isbn=978-1-4088-4405-2|language=en}}. For instance, it is [[Sports riot|not uncommon]] for buildings, cars, dumpsters to be set on fire following sporting events{{Cite web |last=DeVito|first=Lee|date=2014-10-14|title=A look back at the infamous Bubba Helms incident, 30 years later|url=https://www.metrotimes.com/news/a-look-back-at-the-infamous-bubba-helms-incident-30-years-later-2259623/|access-date=2026-04-18|website=Detroit Metro Times|language=en-US}} in some cities and nations. Fires may be set to provide [[Enfilade and defilade|"cover"]] to to retreating or advancing forces, like in 1991 when the [[Iraqi military]] [[Kuwaiti oil fires|retreated]] from [[Kuwait]]. Groups including the [[Provisional IRA]] and the [[Women's Social and Political Union]] have used arson as a political act{{Cite news |title=Tre Arrow says Oregon halfway house next stop |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/tre_arrow_says_oregon_halfway.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014065102/http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/tre_arrow_says_oregon_halfway.html |archive-date=2012-10-14 |access-date=2026-04-18 |work=The Oregonian - OregonLive.com |language=en}} of violence. During the most recent [[Myanmar civil war (2021–present)|Myanmar civil war]] the [[Military junta]] engaged in a campaign of burning homes to drive out combatants in urban areas{{Cite web |last=Thit|first=Nayt|date=2022-10-22|title=Analysis {{!}} Why Myanmar Junta’s ‘Four Cuts’ Arson Strategy is Failing to Quell Resistance|url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/analysis/why-myanmar-juntas-four-cuts-arson-strategy-is-failing-to-quell-resistance.html|access-date=2026-04-18|website=The Irrawaddy|language=en-US}}. Inversely, arson (or intent to commit arson) has been used a [[false flag]] or [[smear campaign]] against activists, as in the case of [[Marinus van der Lubbe]]{{Cite web |title=New report casts doubt on Reichstag fire |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ex-nazi-testimony-sparks-fresh-mystery-over-1933-reichstag-fire/a-49765704 |access-date=2026-04-18 |website=dw.com |language=en}} and [[Martin Sostre]]{{Cite news |last=Shapiro |first=Joseph |date=2017-04-14 |title=How One Inmate Changed The Prison System From The Inside |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/14/507297469/how-one-inmate-changed-the-prison-system-from-the-inside |access-date=2026-04-18 |work=NPR |language=en}}.

An example of insurance fraud being the motivating factor for an act of arson is the case for Operation Firebird.{{Cite web |title=Ringleader of family arson crew pleads guilty in $4 million Operation Firebird insurance fraud case |url=https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2019/release088-19.cfm |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=www.insurance.ca.gov}} A married couple and four co-conspirators were arrested and convicted with arson and insurance fraud after a string of home, business, and warehouse fires which took place between 2014 and 2018 were exposed as acts of arson. Using chicken left in boiling frying oil, the convicted criminals would make fire seem like a cooking accident. Then, the group committed insurance fraud by filing insurance claims for the cost of the building, as well as smoke-damaged goods to claim fire damages for insurance payouts. The group's scheme claimed a reported $4 million and ended when authorities were tipped off as to where the location of the next planned incident would take place. Police then performed an investigation dubbed Operation Firebird with the San Jose Fire Department. According to a [https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2019/release088-19.cfm 2019 Press Release] from the [[California Department of Insurance]], Tyler and Kim Chen, Ha Nguyen, Sandy Ngo, Duyen Pham, and Trang Huynh were all convicted of various degrees of arson and insurance fraud.

Other motivations include financial gain (i.e., a person destroys their own property by burning it and attempts to collect against their [[insurance policy]]{{Cite web |last=Zalma|first=Barry|date=January 8, 2014|title=Fraud Proved – Lie About Cause Of Fire Sufficient to Support Guilty Verdict|url=https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/criminal/b/criminal-law-blog/posts/fraud-proved-lie-about-cause-of-fire-sufficient-to-support-guilty-verdict|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105002644/https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/criminal/b/criminal-law-blog/posts/fraud-proved-lie-about-cause-of-fire-sufficient-to-support-guilty-verdict|archive-date=January 5, 2019|access-date=January 4, 2019|website=LexisNexis}}{{Cite web |date=2012-06-29 |title=Michael Marin, Arizona man, dies moments after being convicted in arson case - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-marin-arizona-man-dies-moments-after-being-convicted-in-arson-case/ |access-date=2026-04-18 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}). In 2019 the [[California Department of Insurance]] and [[San Jose Fire Department]] were tipped off as to an [[Insurance fraud|insurance fraud scheme]] when the location of a planned incident was given to a tip line. After an investigation, a married couple and four co-conspirators were arrested and convicted with arson and insurance fraud after a string of home, business, and warehouse fires which took place over four years. The criminals left chicken in turned-on [[Deep fryer|deep fryers]] to make the damage look like the result of a cooking accident. The group then filled insurance claims for the cost of the building, as well as smoke-damaged goods to claim [[Fire damage|fire damages]] for insurance payouts. The group's scheme claimed a reported $4 million before they were caught{{Cite web |title=Ringleader of family arson crew pleads guilty in $4 million Operation Firebird insurance fraud case|url=https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2019/release088-19.cfm|access-date=2024-03-05|website=www.insurance.ca.gov}}.

Tyler Chen was convicted of five separate counts of arson and two separate counts of insurance fraud in Santa Clara County in 2018. Tyler Chen's wife, Kim Chen, was convicted of two counts of insurance fraud in Santa Clara county.{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Nicholas |date=2019-11-19 |title=Couple Pleads Guilty in $4M Arson, Insurance Fraud Case |url=https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/couple-pleads-guilty-in-4m-arson-insurance-fraud-case/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=San Jose Inside |language=en-US}}

Fire may be set for emotional satisfaction, [[firefighter arson]]"[https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/firefighters-who-start-fires-a-look-at-the-phenomenon-of-firefighter-arson Firefighters who start fires: a look at the phenomenon of 'firefighter arson]'". Edmonton Journal. 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2016-06-27., personal entertainment{{Cite web |title=The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19940311&id=N3QfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FfEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6543,77978&hl=en|access-date=2026-04-06|website=news.google.com}}, or as a tool of [[assault]] or revenge{{Cite news |title=Man Sentenced to 625 Years for 25 Deaths in Dorothy Mae Fire|url=https://apnews.com/article/fd9d98d8c021b3f7f7ecaa189d5083c9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221013432/https://apnews.com/article/fd9d98d8c021b3f7f7ecaa189d5083c9|archive-date=2022-12-21|access-date=2026-04-06|work=AP NEWS|language=en}}. [[Arson investigation|Arson investigator]] [[John Leonard Orr]] and other fighter fighter arsonists have been convicted of setting fires either personal entertainment or as a form of [[hero syndrome]]. Arsonists may set a fire in an attempt to damage a small amount of property (as revenge against a [[landlord]], employer, friend or relative) without understanding how quickly a fire can spread. The [[Dupont Plaza Hotel arson|Dupont Plaza Hotel]] which killed 99 persons happened after three striking workers set fire to a storeroom of new furniture. The fire [[Flashover|flashed over]] and ignited the ballroom and shortly, the rest of the hotel{{Cite web |title=News & Updates Anatomy of a Disaster: The DuPont Plaza Hotel Fire |url=http://www.ghwlegal.com/news/anatomy-of-a-disaster-the-dupont-plaza-hotel-fire-article-N35 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508025904/http://www.ghwlegal.com/news/anatomy-of-a-disaster-the-dupont-plaza-hotel-fire-article-N35 |archive-date=2014-05-08 |access-date=2026-04-18 |website=www.ghwlegal.com}}. Artist [[Lisa Lopes]] accidentally burned down the mansion she shared with [[Andre Rison]] in 1994 after setting fire to his sneakers in a bathtub{{Cite web |title=Lisa Lopes Documentary Captures Singer's Last Days - Music, Celebrity, Artist News {{!}} MTV |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1558031/lisa-lopes-film-captures-her-last-days.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602065414/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1558031/lisa-lopes-film-captures-her-last-days.jhtml |archive-date=2011-06-02 |access-date=2026-04-18 |website=www.mtv.com |language=en}}. Many deadly fires have been set during or following arguments{{Cite journal |last=Copeland |first=A.R. |date=August 1, 1985 |title=Homicide by fire |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF00203853 |journal=Zeitschrift Rechtsmedizin |language=en |volume=95 |issue=1 |doi=10.1007/BF00203853 |issn=0044-3433}}{{Cite web |last=Pearl |first=Mike |date=2015-06-25 |title=Revisiting a Deadly Arson Attack on a New Orleans Gay Bar on Its 42nd Anniversary |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-anniversary-of-the-upstairs-lounge-arson-the-biggest-gay-mass-murder-in-us-history-459/ |access-date=2026-04-18 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}.

A person may also commit arson as the result of a [[psychotic episode]] as a result of [[Delusion|delusions]] or [[Hallucination|hallucinations]] and may or may not be found [[Criminal insanity|criminally insane]]{{Cite journal |last=Leong|first=Gregory B.|last2=Mueller|first2=Crystal|last3=Feldsher|first3=Mendel|date=August 31, 2018|title=Insane Arsonists: An Early 21st Century Sample|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1556-4029.13902|journal=Journal of Forensic Sciences|language=en|volume=64|issue=2|pages=454–459|doi=10.1111/1556-4029.13902|issn=0022-1198}}. Some arsonists have been committed to [[Psychiatric hospital|psychiatric hospitals]] instead of prison{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Jane |date=1999-07-29 |title=Malcolm Shabazz Flees Detention |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/29/nyregion/malcolm-shabazz-flees-detention.html |access-date=2026-04-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}.

Additional reasons for arson include an attempt to conceal another crime like robbery or homicide{{Cite news |title=Missing Oroville woman's body found in Plumas County |url=https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/missing-oroville-womans-body-found-in-plumas-county-571427261.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403012336/https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/missing-oroville-womans-body-found-in-plumas-county-571427261.html |archive-date=2021-04-03 |access-date=2026-04-18 |work=KHSL News |language=en}}B A McMullin, J E Moss, F Muller, J W Price, R D Robinson, D L Seyse, D A Thompson, M J Van Keuren, R F Wagner, D L Zoellick, "[https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/arson-conceal-other-crimes Arson To Conceal Other Crimes]", U.S. Department of Justice, 1983; accessed 2025.01.24.. These attempts are often unsuccessful at hiding [[blunt trauma]]{{Cite news |date=2009-06-16 |title=Raymond Eugene Johnson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/okmulgee-daily-times-raymond-eugene-john/104801079/ |access-date=2026-04-18 |work=Okmulgee Daily Times |pages=2}}, [[Stab wound|stab wounds]], and [[Gunshot wound|gunshot wounds]]. Medical examiners may use a [[blood test]] and/or look for [[soot]] in the [[esophagus]], [[Lung|lungs]] or [[mouth]] to check if the [[decedent]] was alive at the time of a fire{{Cite journal |last=Žiūkaitė |first=Gabrielė |last2=Jasaitė |first2=Marta |last3=Chmieliauskas |first3=Sigitas |last4=Vasiljevaitė |first4=Diana |last5=Laima |first5=Sigitas |last6=Banionis |first6=Dalius |last7=Stasiūnienė |first7=Jurgita |date=2023-05-16 |title=Homicides Disguised as Fire Deaths |url=https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/30553 |journal=Acta medica Lituanica |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=10 |doi=10.15388/Amed.2023.30.1.10 |issn=2029-4174 |pmc=10417010 |pmid=37575373}}.

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