Arson Statistics Research Paper

Among the various types of forensic/criminalist disciplines, this research intends to convey knowledge on one of the many varied specialties of forensic analysis known as arson, fire and explosives. The forensic investigation of arson, fire and explosives is a very collaborated approach. “Arson investigators have two immediate objectives: (1) to determine exactly where, at the scene, the fire began and (2) what caused the fire to ignite. Explosives investigators need to know the same fundamental information as they probe the destruction of buildings, airplanes, and cars” (Harmon, 2008:6). First, each forensic application must be defined to gain a greater understanding of the discipline as a whole. “Arson is the willful and malicious burning of any property for an improper or illegal purpose. By definition, it’s intentional” (J. Ford, 2014:7). In order to produce a fire three ingredients must be present at the same times, which are oxygen, fuel and heat. According to the Haynes (2015:1) “U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 1,298,000 fires in 2014. Also, “during 2007-2011, an estimated 282,600 intentional fires were reported to U.S. fire departments each year, with associated annual losses of 420 civilian deaths, 1,360 civilian injuries, and $1.3 billion in direct property damage”. In the addition to arson and fire, explosives, have recently became one of the most tragic and alarming events.

The Chicago fire was a huge part of our history. We can never forget about the Chicago fire because it changed how some people lived. The Chicago fire affected people in many ways. Many people had an idea about how the fire started, where it started and who caused it. It took years to rebuild what had been destroyed, the effect of the chicago fire was remarkable.

The hayman fire is the biggest fire in recorded history burning 138,000 acres. The fire has had long lasting damages on the environment. There were many factor that added up that created a dangerous situation where the area was very fire prone. Though the fire was believed to be started by a woman burning a letter but the forest had the right conditions to generate a massive fire.

On the night of October 8, 1871 at 9:00pm, a horrible fire broke loose. Very dry weather, leaving the ground dry, the wooden city vulnerable. The abundance of wooden buildings a fire started in a barn, outside in Chicago behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary at 13 Dekoven street. The Great Chicago Fire people are saying was caused by the cow of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary kicked a lantern. No one really doesn’t know how this great fire was started but some theories say humans or a matador caused this fire.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 went on for several days, destroyed thousands of buildings, killed many people, and cause well over millions of dollars in damage. This is a horrible tragedy that happen in our country. It led to unlawfulness of the citizens it affected. There is still great controversy on the start of the fire. Although we do know that in the end everything turned out good and the city is now rebuilt bigger and better than before and is still continuing to grow to this day.

On August 30, 1979 there was a fire that killed two children and one adult at their residence. Investigators concluded that the fire was an arson. They concluded this because of the heavy alligator charring on the floor that was misinterpreted as arson. The investigators felt this was due to a pool of Stoddard solvent, a liquid flammable substance, used to start the fire. In reality these markings were due to radiation effect from the fire, not arson. On March 26, 1980 Louis DiNicola was charged with arson and three counts of murder. Louis spent four years in prison before being on bail while awaiting retrial. He was granted a new trial from his appeal of this conviction. The basis for the retrial was that evidence from the original

At around 0030 11/16/16 I Sr. Officer Chad Stephenson of Siena Heights University (SHU) Department of Public Safety (DPS) was approached by resident student Stanley Saunders to report that his jacket was stolen out of his dorm room 409 on 11/15/16 between 1400-2300. Saunders stated that after he come back from a meeting at around 1230 he took his jacket off and but it on his bed. Then at around 1400 the left his room to go and hung out with some friends, when he came back at around 2300 he noticed his jacket was missing. Saunders searched his room, and talked with his roommates to see if any of them seen it but they all said no. The jacket is described as an Black North Face theremoball full zip up and is a size XL, Saunders states that he only bought it around a month ago.

The increase in high severity fires is largely due to historical and current fire suppression policies. Federal forest-fire management in the United States began in 1886 following the creation of the national parks, and the passage of the federal Clarke-McNary Act in 1924 began a national fire suppression regime (Stephens and Ruth 2005). Suppression of low severity fires allows surface and ladder fuels to accumulate, contributing to high severity crown fires. Today, 98-99% of all wildland fires are suppressed at less than 0.5 acres in size. Of the 4.5 million acres of land once burned on California, only 6% of this area is burned today. Fire suppression investment is still increasing with 3 billion more dollars invested in fire suppression since 2013. This investment has not prevented increases in the size or frequency of high intensity fires (Stephens 2014). There is currently no comprehensive policy that works to manage fire

In October 8, 1871,Chicago,Illinois was a city ready to burn by the nightmare of wood.

Fire district 13 is located in the forested valleys and steep foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range at the base of Mount St. Helens. Access to our district, primarily reached by one main county road, is limited. With automatic mutual aid to neighboring districts with, major rail, and freeway- interoperability is key. Located above the Cascadia Subduction zone, Clark County is due for a catastrophic earthquake. The area that includes fire district 13 is a transitional zone between unoccupied forest land and human development. Being a part of the wildland urban interface zone puts us at a higher risk for wildfires.

The person I have chosen to do my scenario on is David Lee Gavitt, who not only was tried and convicted of arson and sent to prison, but had to grieve the death of his family from the fire as well. On March 9, 1985, David and his wife, Angela, went up to their bedroom to have sexual intercourse. While in their room doing their thing, the dog began to scratch on the door. Once David opened the door he was met by fire. He instructed his wife to round up their children and get out. David crawled to a back room with a window, broke it out and called for his wife. When she did not answer, he attempted to go find them, but the fire was too hot and was unable to locate them. Ultimately, David escaped the fire out the window he broke.

Although it may seem like laws aren't easily passed, and that we should hear about them when they are passed this is however not the case. In reality, about 758 bills get turned into laws each year, most going unnoticed by the public. For instance, many people are presumably unaware that as of March 27th in 2013, because of the supporters like Senator Bob Peterson, Ohio instigated an official database for arsonists titled “To establish a registry for arson offenders.”. While this may not seem like a significant thing to have, many bills passed are similar in gravity. Like all laws, it was first drafted as a bill and then introduced to congress. Secondly, the bill was sent to the committee and then the house for review. After that, the

The most common motive as to why arson fires are committed is for financial gains. According to U.S. Fire Administration Topical Fire Research Series, “The general public typically views arson as an insurance concern, primarily a paper crime of fraud mostly affecting insurance companies” (usfa.fema.gov). Many think that the easiest way to get insurance funds is by setting fires on their own properties or areas where they know will soon affect their section. Firefighters on the other hand, believe that they can easily get away with arson cases because no one would look directly towards an emergency fire responder as the criminal.

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) published by the FBI gives a little better look of the profile of an arsonist, though not much. Only those fires that are determined to be deliberately set are included in the UCR, suspicious fires are not. In 2009, Motor vehicles and other mobile property accounted for 28.4% of arsons, 27.1% were arsons that involved crops, timber, fences and other such types of property, and the remaining 44.5% of arsons were those involving structures – residential, commercial and public.

Arson comes in many forms such as juveniles vandalizing property, businesses trying to collect insurance money, and murderers covering up their crimes are just a few of the examples arson investigators deal