Definition of ARSON

: the willful or malicious burning of property (as a building)

especially with criminal or fraudulent intent
— ar·son·ist noun
— ar·son·ous adjective
See arson defined for English-language learners »

Examples of ARSON

1. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but
investigators suspect arson.
2. The town has suffered a rash of arson attacks.

3. The town has suffered a rash of arsons.

Origin of ARSON

Anglo-French arsoun, from ars, past participle of arder,

ardre to burn, from Latin ardēre — more at ARDOR

First Known Use: circa 1680

Rhymes with ARSON

parson

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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 burning 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.
West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc.
All rights reserved.

arson n. the felony crime of intentionally burning a house or other

building. The perpetrators range from mentally ill pyromaniacs to
store owners hoping to get insurance proceeds. Historically, arson
meant just the burning of a house, but now covers any structure. A
death resulting from arson is murder.
Copyright © 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Right reserved.

arson noun criminal setting of fires, deliberate burnnng of

property, destruction of property by fire, fire-
raising, firing, incendiarism, malicious burning of property, set
conflagration, willful burning of property

Burton's Legal Thesaurus, 4E. Copyright © 2007 by William C. Burton. Used with
permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

ARSON, criminal law. At common law an offence of the degree of

felony; and is defined by Lord Coke to be the malicious and voluntary
burning of the house of another, by night or day. 3 Inst. 66.
2. In order to make this crime complete, there must be, 1st, a
burning of the house, or some part of it; it is sufficient if any part be
consumed, however small it may be. 9 C. & P. 45; 38 E. C. L. R. 29;
16 Mass. 105. 2d. The house burnt must; belong to another; but if a
man set fire to his own house with a view to burn his neighbor's, and
does so, it is at least a great misdemeanor, if not a felony. 1 Hale, P.
C. 568; 2 East, P. C. 1027; 2 Russ. 487. 3d. The burning must have
been both malicious and willful.
3. The offence of arson at common law, does not extend further
than the burning of the house of another. By statute this crime is
greatly enlarged in some of the states, as in Pennsylvania, where it is
extended to the burning of any barn or outhouse having bay or grain
therein; any barrack, rick or stack of hay, grain, or bark; any public
buildings, church or meeting-house, college, school or library. Act 23d
April, 1829; 2 Russell on Crimes, 486; 1 Hawk. P. C. c. 39 4 Bl. Com.
220; 2 East, P. C. c. 21, s. 1, p. 1015; 16 John. R. 203; 16 Mass. 105.
As to the extension of the offence by the laws of the United States,
see Stat. 1825, c. 276, 3 Story's L. U. S. 1999.

Arson is typically defined as the malicious burning of

property. It is important to understand that arson is a legal
term, and the definition varies from one country to another
or even between different states within a country. The
Uniform Crime Report (UCR) of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation defines arson as: "any willful or malicious
burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to
defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or
aircraft, personal property of another, etc." When a fire
occurs, fire investigators, crime scene investigators, or
forensic scientists are called to the scene to determine the
origin and cause of the fire and the potential of arson.

The general definition of arson means that somebody

deliberately or intentionally set fire to a property in order to
destroy it, with a criminal intent. The person who decides to
burn dead leaves in a backyard is normally not charged with
arson, as it is his/her own property and there is no criminal
intent. Criminal intent can be very broad. It includes gain of
profit, fraud, persecution, or causing injury. The crime of
arson is a very serious offense, punishable by several years
of imprisonment. Also, there are some state's statutes, such
as those in Georgia, which extend the crime of arson to fires
that are accidentally created during the execution of
a felony. These recent statutes were created in order to
respond to the accidental fires and explosions that took
place in neighborhood drug laboratories, such as
methamphetamine labs. With these new statutes, law
enforcement agencies and prosecutors can, for example,
charge a criminal with arson if a house was burned down
due to an accidental fire started during the manufacturing of
methamphetamine. In intentional burnings, the charge of
arson can extend in some states to the person who ordered
the burning and not only to the person who actually
performed the act of setting the property on fire.

Individuals who commit arson (arsonists) can be

characterized in a variety of ways. About 90% of arsonists
are men and about 50% are younger than 18 years old.
Juvenile fire setters are a great concern, and several
programs have been created in the United States to identify
these juveniles and address their problem behaviors. There
are different motives for committing arson and they are
usually classified into categories, such as profit, spite,
excitement, crime concealment, and vandalism.

Arson for profit includes all arsons committed with the

expectation of obtaining a gain from the perpetrator
(arsonist). It is important to note that the perpetrator does
not necessarily need to obtain gain, but to show the intent
that gain was going to be obtained. The gain can be direct or
indirect. An example of direct gain would be the collection of
the insurance money for the replacement of a burned house.
Indirect gain would be an increase of business by eliminating
(burning) the competitor who was doing business across the
street. One of the most important arsons for profit
committed in the United States is insurance fraud. This kind
of criminal act is relatively widely spread in the United
States. Some arsonists found it easier to burn their homes
rather than to invest money to repair them. Also, when a
vehicle arrives at the end of a lease and the mileage is
excessive, arsonists have burned the car, simulating an
accidental fire, rather than paying for the extra mileage.

Arson for spite is also known as arson for revenge. This type
of arsonist wants to take revenge against a person, a group
of persons, an organization or institution, or against society,
in general. Some activist organizations for peace, or groups
who fight violence against animals, for example, have
regularly committed arson and destroyed laboratories or
headquarters of research facilities for the sake of their
cause.

Arson for excitement is committed by people who are bored,

in need of attention, or sexually stimulated by the crime of
arson. These criminals are considered dangerous, as they do
not have a particular target, and will burn any place or thing
that would fulfill their need for excitement, attention, or get
them the recognition they think they deserve. Because of
the random nature of excitement motivated arsons, when
one arsonist commits several burning acts, they are often
difficult to profile.

Arson for crime concealment is performed when criminals try

to hide another crime. For example, after murdering an
individual, the house is set on fire, destroying the body and
much of the evidence of the murder activities. In some
instances, a vehicle that was stolen for a joy ride or to
commit another crime, such as a robbery, is set on fire in
order to destroy evidence that would link the authors to the
theft. Criminals are aware that fire is a powerful weapon to
achieve destruction of evidence. Fortunately, there are many
forensic techniques that have been developed throughout
the years to retrieve different evidence, such
as blood patterns or fingerprints, after a fire.

Arson for vandalism is typically performed by young

criminals or juvenile fire setters for no apparent reason.
Schools or educational facilities are often the target of such
crimes.
In the United States, the crime of arson is typically first
investigated by the fire department. The fire department is
the first agency to be on scene to proceed with extinguishing
the fire. The fire chief usually determines if the fire occurred
among suspicious circumstances and if arson investigator
needs to be called. If the fire is considered as arson, either
the fire department pursues the investigation, or other law
enforcement agencies are contacted for assistance. Most
states have state fire marshal offices that specialize in arson
investigation. Also, at the federal level, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF), is also involved in arson
investigation and has the greatest number of arson
investigators at the federal level. The ATF also has several
National Response Teams (NRT), which can travel to assist
other law enforcement agencies. While most fires are in the
jurisdiction of local authorities, there is one exception to this
rule: church fires. In 1996, in order to respond to an
increase in the number of deliberate church fires, President
Bill Clinton formed the National Church Arson Task Force
(NCATF). The goal of the NCATF was to allocate federal
resources to the investigation of church fires around the
country. The ATF and the FBI are the main agencies that
investigate these fires. The NCATF coordinated
investigations of 945 church arsons or bombings that
occurred between January 1, 1995, and August 15, 2000,
which led to the arrest of 431 suspects in connection with
342 incidents. This represents a clearance rate of about
36%, more than twice than the national average.

Arson is a serious problem in many countries and more

particularly in the United States. This is reflected in local and
national statistics. In 2003, there were 37,500 structure
fires reported as arson in the U.S. These fires resulted in
305 deaths and 692 million dollars in damage. They
represented approximately 3% of all structure fires that
occurred in 2003 in the United States. In addition, there
were about 30,500 vehicle fires reported as arson that
resulted in a dollar loss of approximately 132 million dollars.
Fortunately, these figures are in regression for the last ten
years as there were 90,500 structure fires in the United
States for the year 1995, resulting in 1.6 billion dollars of
direct loss. The UCR reports approximately the same
number of offenses for 2003, but adds the proportion of
cleared offenses, which is 16.7%. It also specifies that arson
occurs at the rate of 30.4 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants.

There are several organizations that provide programs and

information or training to fight against the crime of arson.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) provides
training documents and statistics for fire and arson
investigators. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB)
provides statistics and training. The Insurance Committee
for Arson Control (ICAC) provides publications and seminars
to increase public awareness of the arson problem and help
insurance companies fight the problem of arson.