U.S. Fire Administration

TOPICAL FIRE RESEARCH SERIES

Volume 1, Issue 8

January 2001 (Rev. December 2001)

Arson in the United States

FINDINGS

S Arson is the leading cause of fires (267,000 annually) in the United

States and the second leading cause of deaths (475) and injuries

(2,000); arson causes $1.4 billion in property loss each year.

S Community, municipal, and Federal interventions in addressing certain

aspects of the problem have ameliorated arson incidence.

S 50% of arson fires occur outdoors, 30% in structures, and 20% in vehicles.

S Half of all arson arrests are juveniles.

S Vacant and abandoned buildings are targets for arsonists. Also poorer

neighborhoods experience 14 times the number of arsons as higher

income neighborhoods.

S Church arsons increased sharply in 1996.

Arson is the leading cause of fire in the United States.

1 Each year, an estimated

267,000 fires are attributed to arson, which result in $1.4 billion in property loss and

cause over 2,000 injuries and 475 deaths.

2 As a result, arson prevention and investigation have become the focus of increased attention within the federal government, the fire

service, and the criminal justice system.
According to analysis of 1996–1998 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting

System (NFIRS) (all reported fires), the dollar loss per arson fires from arson fires were

slightly higher than the average of all fires, but deaths and injuries were somewhat lower

(Figure 1).

Figure 1. Loss Measures for Arson Fires

(3-year average (1996–98) from NFIRS data)

MEASURE ALL FIRES ARSON FIRES

Dollar Loss/Fire

Injuries/1,000 Fires

Fatalities/1,000 Fires

$5,619

15.7

2.4

$6,051

10.2

1.8

The general public typically views arson as an insurance concern, primarily a

“paper” crime of fraud mostly affecting insurance companies. Arsonists, however, kill

and injure both civilians and firefighters. Increasingly, set fires motivated by spite and

revenge are used as weapons. Such fires tend to be more deadly because they are targeted

specifically to inflict personal harm. Examples include a 1994 gang-related firebombingthat killed five children in Minneapolis3 and a 1999 revenge fire that killed six children

in St. Louis.

4

Arson fires are the third leading cause of fire-related injuries and fatalities. (Cooking

fires are the leading cause of fire-related injury, and smoking fires are the leading cause

of fire deaths). Thirty percent of arson fires occur in structures (of which 30% are in

structures), 50% occur outdoors, and 20% occur in vehicles (Figure 2). Although outdoor

fires are not as deadly as those in structures, they cause concern for several reasons. First,

their proximity to structures increases the chance for exposure fires. Also, outdoor fires

are often “gateway” fires for juvenile firesetters who begin setting fires in trash cans,

fields, or empty lots, and then move on to targets that bear increasing risk to persons and

property. Juveniles now account for over half of all arson arrests in the United States.

5

Figure 2. Properties Where Arson Occurs

(3-year average (1996–98) from NFIRS data)

0 10 0 30 0 50

Structures

Vehicles

Outside

Percent

2 4
Arson fires tend to peak around specific dates each year, notably New Year’s, July 4,

and Halloween (Figure 3). A concern in some communities has been the rash of Halloween fires. Although it appears that Halloween is a peak time for intentionally set fires

across the nation, it has been particularly significant in certain areas. As a result, communities throughout the country have initiated neighborhood programs to report suspicious

activity on the nights of October 29, 30, and 31.6 In Detroit, the program, known as

Angel’s Night, involves 35,000 volunteers (both private citizens and personnel from all

departments of the city government) operating throughout the city. Since the inception of

the program, the number of Devil’s Night arson fires has decreased significantly.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000 1/1

1/151/292/122/263/123/26

4/9

4/23

5/7

5/21

6/4

6/18

7/2

716

7/308/138/279/109/2410/8

10/22

11/5

11/19

12/3

12/1712/31

Incidents

Figure 3. Incendiary and Suspicious Fires

(national estimates, 3-year average (1996–98))

Although arson fires are most commonly set outdoors, arsonists also target vacant or

abandoned buildings. Such “blighted” buildings are a widespread problem in cities

throughout the United States. When repair costs exceed revenue, building owners may

abandon the property and default on the mortgage. Banks are reluctant to assume responsibility for property upkeep when the resale potential is negligible, so the property is simply left “as is.” The structure then becomes a sanctuary for drug dealers, other criminals,

and “urban miners” who loot the property for anything of value. Firesetters finish the job,

often to conceal other crimes.

A recent example of a blighted building fire occurred in December 1999. Six firefighters from the Worcester (MA) Fire Department were killed while fighting a fire in an

abandoned cold storage warehouse. In May 2000, the widows of three of the deceased

firefighters filed a lawsuit against the warehouse’s owners, alleging their negligence in

maintaining the building ultimately led to their husbands’ deaths.

7

In the wake of the events in Worcester, the Worcester Fire Department has joined

with FEMA in an effort known as Project Remember to rehabilitate abandoned buildings

in the city in memory of the fallen firefighters.

8
-

Other fire departments and government agencies are struggling to find ways to eliminate blighted buildings and support the costs of demolition. For example, FEMA

recently announced the inception of a pilot project under Project Impact: Building a

Disaster-Resistant Community. The project is a partnership of community, state, and federal organizations committed to reducing potential life safety risks, including those

caused by abandoned and unsafe buildings.

In addition to the potential of arson and other fires in abandoned buildings, the quality of a neighborhood can also influence the incidence of fire. Socioeconomic status has

long been associated with increased fire risk.

9 One study conducted in 1981, in Toledo,

found the relationship between income and incendiary/suspicious fires to be startling.

Statistical analysis revealed that the poorest group of census tracts in that city experienced 14.4 times the number of incendiary or suspicious fires as the highest income census tracts.10

Yet another facet of America’s arson problem involves houses of worship. In 1996,

church arsons increased sharply, particularly involving African–American churches in the

South. As a result, President Clinton formed the National Church Arson Task Force

(NCATF) to coordinate the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Also in 1996, Congress passed the Church Arson Prevention Act, which expanded the

options available to prosecutors when dealing with malicious acts aimed at houses of

worship. Since the inception of the NCATF, the incidence of arson or bombing at houses

of worship has declined steadily.

NOTES

1. “Arson” is a legal term; in this paper, arson refers to any fire of an incendiary or suspicious origin.

2. National estimates are based on data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)

(1996-1998) and the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA’s annual survey, Fire Loss in the

United States.

3. “22 Charged in Fire That Killed Five Kids,” The Columbus Dispatch, February 21, 1998.

4. “Police Say Fire Suspect Eyed Revenge,” St. Louis Post–Dispatch, March 13, 1999.

5. For further information on juvenile firesetting/arson, see Arson and Juveniles: Responding to the Violence, U.S. Fire Administration.

6. “Halloween Arsons in Detroit Fall From ’96,” The Detroit News, November 2, 1997.

7. Six Career Firefighters Killed in Cold-Storage and Warehouse Building Fire – Massachusetts, NIOSH

Firefighter Fatality Investigation Reports, September 27, 2000.

8. “Director Witt Announces New Initiatives in Worcester,” Press Release, Federal Emergency Management Agency, October 27, 2000.

9. Socioeconomic Factors and the Incidence of Fire, U.S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1997.

10.Gunther, Paul, “Fire-Cause Patterns for Different Socioeconomic Neighborhoods in Toledo, OH,” Fire

Journal, Vol. 75, May 1981.

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