Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

What Is Arson?

Arson is a crime of willfully andmaliciously setting fire to or charring property. Though the acttypically involves buildings, the term arson can also refer to theintentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles,watercraft, or forests. The crime is typically classified as afelony, with instances involving a greater degree of risk to humanlife or property carrying a stricter penalty. A common motive forarson is to commit insurance fraud. In such cases, a person destroystheir own property by burning it and then lies about the cause inorder to collect against their insurance policy.

A person who commits arson is called anarsonist. Arsonists normally use an accelerant (such as gasoline orkerosene) to ignite, propel and directionalize fires, and thedetection and identification of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) isan important part of fire investigations. Pyromania is an impulsecontrol disorder characterized by the pathological setting of fires. Most acts of arson are not committed by pyromaniacs.

Etymology

The term derives from Law French arsoun(late 13th century), from Old French arsion, from Late Latin arsionem"a burning," from the verb ardere, "toburn."

English common law

Historically, the common law crime ofarson had four elements:

Malicious

For purposes of common law arson,"malicious" refers to action creating a great risk of aburning. It is not required that the defendant acted intentionally orwillfully for the purpose of burning a dwelling.

Burning

At common law charring to any part ofdwelling was sufficient to satisfy this element. No significantamount of damage to the dwelling was required. Any injury or damageto the structure caused by exposure to heat or flame is sufficient.

Of the dwelling

'Dwelling' refers to a place ofresidence. The destruction of an unoccupied building was notconsidered arson: "... since arson protected habitation, theburning of an unoccupied house did not constitute arson." Atcommon law a structure did not become a residence until the firstoccupants had moved in, and ceased to be a dwelling if the occupantsabandoned the premises with no intention of resuming their residency. Dwelling includes structures and outbuildings within the curtilage. Dwellings were not limited to houses. A barn could be the subject ofarson occupied as a dwelling.

Of another

Burning one's own dwelling does notconstitute common law arson, even if the purpose was to collectinsurance, because "it was generally assumed in early Englandthat one had the legal right to destroy his own property in anymanner he chose". Moreover, for purposes of common lawarson, possession or occupancy rather than title determines whosedwelling the structure is. Thus a tenant who sets fire to his rentedhouse would not be guilty of common law arson, while the landlord whoset fire to a rented dwelling house would be guilty.