Dictionary:

arson

  (är'sən)

The crime of maliciously, voluntarily, and willfully setting fire to the building, buildings, or other property of another or of burning one's own property for an improper purpose, as to collect insurance.

[Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin ārsiō, ārsiōn-, from Latin ārsus, past participle of ārdēre, to burn.]

Actual or attempted malicious and deliberate burning of a physical asset owned by another party. Coverage against arson is provided under property insurance, but only if the insured has not committed the arson. The property insurance business has long worked to discourage arson and to prosecute arsonists.

For more information on arson, visit Britannica.com.

At common law, the malicious burning or exploding of the dwelling house of another, or the burning of a building within the curtilage, the immediate surrounding space, of the dwelling of another.

Modern legislation has extended the definition of arson to include the burning or exploding of commercial and public buildings — such as restaurants and schools — and structures— such as bridges. In many states, the act of burn- ing any insured dwelling, regardless of whether it belongs to another, constitutes arson if it is done with an intent to defraud the insurer. Finally, the common-law rule that the property burned must belong to another person has been completely eliminated by statute in some states.

Elements

The main elements necessary to prove arson are evidence of a burning and evidence that a criminal act caused the fire. The accused must intend to burn a building or other structure. Absent a statutory description of the conduct required for arson, the conduct must be malicious, and not accidental. Malice, however, does not mean ill will. Intentional or outrageously reckless conduct is sufficient to constitute malice. Motive, on the other hand, is not an essential element of arson.

Unless a statute extends the crime to other property, only a house used as a residence, or buildings immediately surrounding it, can be the subject of arson. If a house is vacated, is closed up, or becomes unfit for human habitation, its burning will not constitute arson. A temporary absence from a dwelling will not negate its character as a residence.

Generally, the actual presence of a person within a dwelling at the moment it is burned is not necessary. It may, however, be required for a particular degree of the crime. The fact, and not the knowledge, of human occupancy is what is essential. If a dwelling is burned under the impression that it is uninhabited when people actually live in it, the crime is committed.

Absent a statute to the contrary, a person is innocent of arson if that individual burns his or her own property while living there. The common exception to this rule is the burning of one's own property with an intent to defraud or prejudice the property insurer. In addition, under statutes that punish the burning of a dwelling house without expressly requiring it to be the property of another, a person who burns his or her own property might be guilty of arson. An owner, for purposes of arson, is the person who possesses the house and has the care, control, and management of it. In those states that have maintained the common-law rule that the property burned must belong to another person, an owner who burns his or her house while it is in the possession of a lawful tenant is guilty of arson.

Degrees

In many states arson is divided into degrees, depending sometimes on the value of the property but more commonly on its use and whether the crime was committed in the day or night. A typical statute might make the burning of an inhabited dwelling house at night first-degree arson, the burning of a building close enough to a dwelling so as to endanger it second-degree arson, and the burning of any structure with an intent to defraud an insurer thereof, third-degree arson. Many statutes vary the degree of the crime according to the criminal intent of the accused.

Punishment

Arson is a serious crime that was punishable by death under the common law. Presently, it is classified as a felony under most statutes, punishable by either imprisonment or death. Many jurisdictions impose prison sentences commensurate with the seriousness of the criminal intent of the accused. A finding, therefore, that the offense was committed intentionally will result in a longer prison sentence than a finding that it was done recklessly. When a human life is endangered, the penalty is most severe.

"Arsonists" redirects here. For the hip hop band, see Arsonists (rap group).

Criminal law
Part of the common law series
Criminal elements
Actus reus · Causation · Concurrence
Mens rea · Intention · Recklessness
Criminal negligence · Ignorantia juris…
Strict, Corporate & Vicarious liability
Crimes against people
Assault · Battery · Robbery
Sexual offences · Pimping · Rape
Kidnapping · Manslaughter · Murder
Crimes against property
Criminal damage · Arson
Theft · Burglary · Deception
Crimes against justice
Obstruction of justice · Bribery
Perjury · Malfeasance in office
Inchoate offenses
Attempt
Conspiracy · Accessory
Criminal defenses
Automatism, Intoxication & Mistake
Insanity · Diminished responsibility
Duress · Necessity
Provocation · Self defence
Other areas of the common law
Contract law · Tort law · Property law
Wills and trusts · Evidence
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.

The Skyline Parkway Motel at Rockfish Gap 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 for the transient or homeless people that 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. In some cases arson can also be a method of committing murder. Revenge motivation can generate dangerous fires, as a fire setter’s acts of rage contributes to the conflagration. Disgruntled firefighters have occasionally been known to start arson out of revenge, especially those extremely angry at losing their jobs or who have numerous grievances with a fire station and hope that the fire chief or other superiors may perish in the arson fire they started.

Man-made forest fires are frequent in the summers of southern Europe, most notably Turkey and Greece but also Portugal, southern Spain and most of Italy. 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 environmental group known as the Earth Liberation Front committed arson to spread its message of environmental protection. It is often incorrectly believed that Roman emperor Nero ordered the Great Fire of Rome, which erupted on the night of July 18, 64 CE. The fire started from the shops selling flammable goods at the southeastern end of the Circus Maximus and reportedly lasted for nine days.

Popular culture

• The movie Backdraft centers on the relationships of firefighters confronting a series of arson fires.
• The HBO original movie Point of Origin, which is based on a book by Joseph Wambaugh about John Orr, a former fire investigator and convicted serial arsonist, tells the true story of an arson investigator (Ray Liotta) searching for the perpetrator of a string of deadly fires in 1980s California. The films presents the methods the arsonist uses to start the fires The film makes use of backward trick photography to show the 'Point of Origin' of every fire that the arsonist started.
• PBS also created a one hour long television show about arson, focusing, like HBO, on John Orr. The show, "Hunt for the Serial Arsonist," features interviews with John Orr from prison as it follows the story of investigators trying to track down a serial arsonist. It explores a few of the techniques that fire investigators use, and motives that arsonists have in setting fires.
• 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 Stephen 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.
• In the Japanese OVA FLCL, the character Mamimi is an arsonist because of her addiction to a videogame that involves the starting of fires on an apocalyptic town.
• In the webcomic 8-Bit Theater, Black Mage sets fire on a city and justifies: "Hey, did you want to sit around all day while people yelled at us about destroying the house we landed in? Trust me, that's why they invented arson". [1]
• In the popular american crime tv show[numb3rs] one epsisode is based on a serial killer who used arson as a weapon and or tool
• Rock band Thrice has a song entitled "The Arsonist"

See also

• Incendiary
• Fire investigation
• Pyromania
• Reckless burning
• ATF Fire Research Laboratory
• Herostratus
• Guy Fawkes

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - brandstiftelse, ildspåsættelse

Nederlands (Dutch)
brandstichting

Français (French)
n. - incendie criminel

Deutsch (German)
n. - Brandstiftung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εμπρησμός

Italiano (Italian)
incendio doloso

Português (Portuguese)
n. - incêndio (m) culposo

Русский (Russian)
поджег

Español (Spanish)
n. - incendio intencionado, incendio premeditado

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mordbrand

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
纵火, 纵火罪

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 縱火, 縱火罪

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 방화[죄]

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 放火

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) احراق المباني عن عمد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הצתה בזדון‬

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