Profiling Serial Arson
Charles L. Feer, JD, MPA
Department of Criminal Justice
at Bakersfield College
Arson

Willfully and maliciously sets fire to,
burns, or who aids in such, of any
structure, forest land or property.

Unlawfully Causing a Fire:
Recklessly setting a fire.
FOR MORE INFO. P.C. 451
Arson may be committed against one’s own property if with
the intent to defraud. (I.e. Insurance)
Arson

60,000 Arsons in 2010

8,806 Arrest for Arson in 2010

40% under age 18

23% under age 15 (little shits)
Serial Arson defined:

Individuals who intentionally set three or
more separate fires.

May arsons by serial offenders go
unsolved.

Variety of offenders, with a variety of
motivations and mental disorders.
“Forms” of Arson

Organized Crime

Insurance / Housing Fraud

Commercial

Residential

Psychological
Arson “Motives” / Types

Vandalism

Excitement

Revenge

Crime Concealment

Profit
Juvenile Fire-starters
Less than 18 years old.
 Textbook says 49.1%
 50% of Juveniles start fires for
“Vandalism.”
 “Revenge” to get back at authority or
someone.
 “Peer Group Status.”
 “Excitement”

Juvenile Fire-starters

Often set fires within 1 mile to their home.
 Usually accompanied by friends and peers
(potential informants.)
 Half will remain on scene to watch
firefighting activity.
 Often will engage in other criminal
behaviors: Cruelty to animals, robbery,
forced rape, assault, weapons violations.
Adult Fire-setters
Two basic Motivational / Behavioral
features:
 Expressive (emotion, i.e. anger)
 Instrumental (financial gain, to hide
another crime)
 Look at target:

– Objects (schools, vehicles, businesses)
– Specific people (symbolic or emotionally
significant)
Action System Model
Expressive Theme – “the best way to
deal with others.” (Symbolic /
Emotional)
 Integrative Theme – Offenders of a
history of mental disorders, suicide
attempts. Attention seeking behavior.

Action System Model
Conservative Theme – Affecting a
person significant to the offender. i.e.
a failed relationship. (May also be a
hostage taker.) Desire for personal
revenge.
 Adaptive Theme – Getting attention
but does not display mental
disorders. (Covers up another crime.)

Adaptive Theme example:
Attention seeking -Firefighters /
Arsonists
 Setting “nuisance fires” (grass,
brush, dumpsters) in the firefighter’s
primary area of responsibility, and
then being one of the first to
respond. “Eager” / “Hero”
 Sets bigger fires (abandoned
vehicles, unoccupied structures.)


John L. Orr
Pyromania (Expressive)
Psychotic - Delusional
 Multiple deliberate fires set.
 Demonstrated high amounts of
aggression.
- Usually unmarried.
- Have extensive criminal histories
for assaultive behavior.
 Emotional relief from setting fires.

(Irresistible impulse to set fires.)
“Impulse Control Disorder”
Arson Profile Quiz
Name the “Motive”
 (1) Fire set to a school, on a
Thursday afternoon. A group of
teenage males were seen running
away before the fire was reported.
These same teenagers were seen
while firefighters suppressed the fire.
Witnesses report they think the
teenagers live nearby.

Arson Profile Quiz
Name the “Motive”
 (2) Community has transitioned from
an “all volunteer fire company” to a
city employed fire department. 12
new firefighters have been hired.
Almost immediately, several small
fires of been set every other day.
Then no fires for a week. Then
several fires again. No injuries.

Arson Profile Quiz
Name the “Motive”
 (3) Fire to a single family residence.
Occupant is a divorced single female
who is employed fulltime as a
secretary and dispatcher for an oil
field service company.
 She reports that she recently broke
up with her boyfriend. Significant
damage. No injuries.

Arson Profile Quiz
Name the “Motive”
 (4) Vehicle fire. After fire was
extinguished, a body was discovered
in the back seat. Subsequent
autopsy shows that the body was
dead prior to the fire.

Arson Profile Quiz
Name the “Motive”
 (5) A “club house” at a proposed golf
course was burned. It is well known
that the developers were having
difficulty getting the financing to
complete the project. There was no
utility running to the structure.
Structure is a complete loss. No
injuries. Several Points of origin.

Profiling Serial Arson
Dr. Charles L. Feer
Department of Criminal Justice
at Bakersfield College