Arson has been occurring for many years and about 500,000 fires are set intentionally each year. Arson is defined as any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, the property of another or cause physical harm to another. Fire data has been collected since 1977 by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) and the amount of fires has been declining ever since. In the past few decades, there has come about a number of serial arsonists- an offender who sets three or more fires with a cooling-off period between the fires (Douglas, et al, 1992). There are numerous serial arsonists who have been caught, some of which include, Peter Dinsdale, Robert Lee Oyler, Thomas Sweatt, and Paul Keller. While the number of fires across the country have …show more content…
He was born with epilepsy, partial paralysis, and a deformed arm, while also living in different children’s homes as he grew up, which showed that he had an unstable home life. He was single and worked as a laborer in Britain. He was not well-educated and as a juvenile he was labeled a pyromaniac because he believed the tingling in his fingers meant it was time to light a fire. He had no known mental illnesses that led him to start the fires, he set three fires purposely knowing there were people in the house because he held a grudge against them (Blanco). Dinsdale’s profile shows that as a young boy he had a fascination with fire and it only worsened as he grew older and began using arson as a weapon. Dinsdale has many of the factors that would consider him to be a serial arsonist, which include, less educated with more trade skills, an unstable home life, set the fires at places he was comfortable around, had a physical disability, and admitted to the arsons when he was …show more content…
Investigators offered a $500,000 reward with any information on who started the fire, while they were already investigating Oyler for some smaller fires earlier in the year. They found cigarettes, which ignited the fires at the scenes, and found his DNA on them. The police arrested Oyler for those fires and then charged him for the Esperanza fire without any DNA evidence. The ignitors for the Esperanza fire were identical to the ones at the other fires which are what convicted Oyler to this fire (Bill). If the police had not found DNA evidence at the scene and connected it to DNA evidence they found at smaller fires earlier that year, Oyler could have killed many more people and damaged much more property. Oyler’s motive is unknown, but what is known is that he had a fascination with fire since he set so many. Oyler was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder, twenty counts of arson, and seventeen counts of arson using an incendiary device. He was sentenced to death on June 5th, 2009, for starting the Esperanza wildfire
Peige, John D., editor, Fire in Beverly Hills Supper Club Kills 162, Fire Protection Publications, International Fire Service Training Association, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, Aug. 1977. Internet resource.
In West Warwick Rhode Island, on February 20th, 2003, during the performance of the band Great White, a fire broke out that eventually claimed the lives of 100 people and injured an additional 200. The band’s tour manager arranged for, and ignited pyrotechnic props, large fireworks designed to display a shower of sparks. The sparks ignited foam soundproofing near stage. The fire spread quickly. Most were killed either in the crush to exit the building or overcome by fumes while trying to find an exit. The immediate cause was well documented due to witness reports and a videotape that was taken during the concert. In the period that followed the tragedy there were many attempts to fix blame. Following a Grand Jury investigation, several of the parties involved plead guilty to violations of the law and served or are currently sentences in prison.
...ire scenes. The case of Tight Shoes Inc. seems to be pretty obvious as I read it, but I can’t image an arson fire that is not obvious. Interviewing the right people and asking the right questions is just as important if not more than finding physical evidence. Being a people’s person and coaxing the right responses is an under stated in the job title of fire investigator. After following the five steps of comprehensive incendiary investigation and finding and asking the right questions to the interviewee will help secure a solid case against an arsonist.
Mathias Schafer, the fire department watchman, was stationed in the courthouse tower. Upon the sighting of a fire, he would, via voice tube, give the location of the fire to a telegraph operator. The operator would then strike a fire alarm box closest to the location of the fire. On the evening of the fire, Schafer noticed a light in the southwest. He called the night operator and told him to strike box 342, which was located one mile away from the O’Leary barn. Afterwards, Schafer realized he had made a mistake and called the operator once more. He told the operator to strike a different box, but he refused. He claimed that he did not want to confuse the fire...
Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part because of the hot dry summers and the hot dry turbulent Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert during the fall months. Now it has become a yearlong event (Mckay, 2010). These conditions greatly contribute to the “fire season” throughout this area. This set of circumstances in conjunction with downed power lines and humans that ignited fires took place in October of 2007. This led to a series of fires that burned more than 500,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, killed 9, injured 85, and forced the successful evacuation of around 500,000 people out of harm’s way.
There are many contributing factors to Detroit’s fire epidemic, combinations of arson, poor fire prevention and education, and so on. “An arson epidemic, the closure of fire stations and failing hydrants have taken a heavy toll on Detroit’s neighborhoods. Between 2013 and 2015, fires broke out in more than 10,000 houses, apartments, businesses, churches, schools and other buildings in
People around the city went to bed, everything seemed relatively normal. Smoke dwindling into the dark night sky, the faint smell of burning wood. All normal for Chicago. Fires were a daily part of life for this wooden city. Near the time of 2 a.m. the fire didn’t seem so normal and average anymore. A mean flame was being born, it was blazing to life.
In the summer of 1871, was said to be very dry with little to no rainfall, leaving everything dry and hazardous to catching on fire. During this so-called drought, it wasn’t uncommon for a fire to break out; they were pretty regular throughout
The reading passage tries to give some reasons to show that the “let it burn” policy in the United States which is about the natural forest fires has some disadvantages. One the other hand, the professor looks at this concept through a different lens and believes that it has very effective.
Sheetz 1 Sarah Sheetz Ms. Rosenberger English 4 October 17, 2016 Faulkner’s Self Help Book In “Barn Burning,” Faulkner illustrates a boy’s coming to age story, including his struggle in choosing whether to stand by in the midst of his father’s destructive cycle of spiteful burning or stand up for his own belief in civic duty. While most readers do not relate to having a father that habitually burns others’ belongings in a strange power scheme, readers relate to the struggle between blood ties and their own values. Taking the theme even broader, readers relate to any struggle with making a decision. Through imagery, reoccurring motifs, and diction, Faulkner creates an intense pressure which enhances readers understanding of Sarty, his struggle,
In an interview with Sherman Alexie, Alexie states that, "The smoke that originates from the first fire in the movie is what causes these events, and the smoke from the second fire brings about the beginning of resolution." The first fire is the tragic house fire and the second fire is a fire that the healing figure of the movie starts in order to burn down the trailer Arnold Joseph lived in. The trailer's fire symbolizes letting go of all the pain Arnold Joseph caused in the world. It helps show that Victor is slowly letting go of the pain his father caused which in turn means the fire that burns within him is starting to smolder as
Arson for profit is a form of insurance fraud that involves deliberately and intentionally setting fires for monetary gain (U.S. Fire Administration, 2009). Also called economic arson, arson for profit occurs when businesses or individuals deliberately set fires in order to dispose of insured property, including buildings, automobiles, boats, and land, and reap financial benefits by filing insurance claims against the property (U.S. Fire Administration, 2009). Arson for profit is a serious crime, resulting in destroyed property, higher insurance premiums, wasted government resources, and even death (Goetz, 1997; U.S. Fire Administration, 2009). The following paper will explore this form of white collar crime by examining the motives and methods for arson for profit as well as the economic toll of this criminal activity in the United States.
“On average more than 100,000 wildfires, also called wildland fires or forest fires, clear 4 to 5 million acres of land in the U.S every year”. This fact is according to the National Geographic website. Wildfires are dangerous because of how quickly they can spread and the damage they can make. They can move up to fourteen miles an hour across land destroying everything they come in contact with. We have learned throughout the years how a wildfire originates, the impact that it can cause, and safety rules that one can take if necessary. Most wildfires are caused by people, though nature can play a role as well. Through the Mann Gulch fire and the Yarnell, we have learned valuable lessons that have led to improving our firefighting tactics, equipment, and knowledge.
...r it is arson, an uncontrolled camp fire, or a cigarette butt it doesn’t take much for humans to spark a disaster. Yet there is as well a few set by good old Mother Nature. On top of the effects on the earth as well as humans, there is only one thing we all can do and that is listen to our old pal Smokey the Bear when he says, “only you can prevent wildfire.”
One of the most usually used methods for disposing E-waste is to bury it. Mining voids or borrow depths can be used in land filling. E-wastes ending up as landfills may release pollutants to the environment after some years by natural ways. Leaching some wastes such as batteries may possibly release acids and heavy metals like: mercury, nickel, and cadmium. Moreover, E-wastes landfills may pollute groundwater (Schmidt, 2002; Yang, 1993). Diffusing to the land, polluted water will mix with other water sources such as rivers and streams hence reaching animals and humans (Kasassi et al., 2008). Organic and decayed materials in landfills decompose and penetrate through the soil as landfill leachate containing high concentrations of polluting substances