Does this person sound familiar to you? “He was a loner and insecure.… His fires gave him the much needed attention he craved.… He was, after all, the only one who knew how the fires started, and didn't that make him a very important person?” This excerpt from John Orr's unpublished novel, Points of Origin, excerpted in Crime: Burning Ambition by D. Bacon, tells the story of an arson investigator who lights fires in his spare time. Ironically Orr, a professional firefighter with the Glendale (Calif.) Fire Department at the time, was himself subsequently convicted of arson and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Arson in any form is repugnant but even more so when the individual involved is a serving member of the fire service. Firefighters who deliberately light fires are the antithesis of all that the fire service represents. Fire service personnel and the community alike abhor incidents of this nature, yet the phenomenon appears to be continuing unchecked.

Recent reports indicate firefighters have lit as many as 15 fires in Australasia. Although the incidence of firefighter arson is relatively rare in comparison with the total number of currently serving firefighters, the impact on community faith and service morale is disproportionately great. In some instances the arsonist is a long-standing or senior member of the brigade. The emotional fallout for other members who have trained and worked alongside these individuals is not to be underestimated. Many describe their reaction as devastated and are incredulous at the betrayal of professional trust that is involved when a firefighter deliberately lights fires.

In 1998 the issue was raised publicly at a national conference of fire service personnel from Australia and New Zealand. Since then some brigades have taken positive steps to address this issue. Clearly, the fire service is becoming concerned about the threat to its credibility and integrity that is posed by such incidents.

Who is the firefighter arsonist?

Very little published information is available concerning the firefighter arsonist. We are forced to rely largely on media reports of cases and anecdotal information supplied by the peers, subordinates and superiors of those members convicted of lighting fires.

Why this is so is another question altogether. There is, understandably perhaps, a general reluctance to acknowledge this type of activity. However, in supporting a lack of structured research into the reasons behind this type of crime, a problem is being perpetuated that would be better managed with more information about the nature of the offense and the type of people who commit it.

What we do know about firefighters who commit arson is that they are different in some important ways from other types of arsonists. In terms of their personal characteristics, these individuals often can be difficult to distinguish from firefighters who do not light fires, making the job of managing the problem even more challenging for senior brigade officers.

The typical arsonist often is of average to below-average intelligence and generally an all-around underachiever. He (most are male) tends to be a loner and finds it difficult to integrate into groups successfully. Unemployment or employment in low-skilled occupations is usual. He has significant difficulties coping with the day-to-day hassles that we all experience. His difficulties with maintaining employment, sustaining personal relationships and generally coping with life may be related, in part, to a psychiatric illness. He tends to set fires for revenge or for profit and has no particular preference as to type of target. He has chosen fire as an effective outlet for his emotional distress or as a powerful weapon that he can wield without having to personally confront the victim.

The firefighter arsonist, on the other hand, is frequently of average to slightly above-average intelligence and, for all intents and purposes, functions successfully in society. He's often employed, although frequent job and/or career changes may be a feature of his occupational history. At a superficial level he is socially adept, however those who get to know him may describe him as arrogant, cocky or overbearing. Younger individuals in this category may be described as initially shy but rapidly gain in confidence, tend to be overeager to please, or attention seeking.

The firefighter arsonist's motive for setting fires is not clear, as many firefighter arsonists have refused to explain their actions. However, the nature of the offenses (usually targeting derelict buildings, scrub or rubbish skips) suggests it may be for the excitement in attending the fire, to feel part of a well-functioning team that is involved in playing an important role in society, or even to create enough work to justify the resources allocated to the brigade, particularly in rural areas.

Many who have worked with a firefighter who was subsequently convicted of lighting fires expressed anger at how they were duped. They described a fire service member who was keen, enthusiastic and always willing to be involved in training and other fire service activities. Those individuals seemed to be committed members of the team, giving freely of their time to further the interests of the brigade. It's difficult to reconcile the evidence with the person they know and often, even after a guilty conviction has been recorded, colleagues may find it hard to accept.

In one such case earlier this year Anthony John Parsons, a 27-year-old from Mackay, Australia, was jailed for lighting five grassfires while working as a part-time firefighter and was even paid to extinguish some of the fires he had lit. It was later revealed that Parsons, who also had served as a volunteer with the rural fire brigades for several years, had a 1992 conviction for arson.

The similarity between firefighters who light fires and those who don't emphasizes how difficult it is to spot the threat from within. While the typical arsonist demonstrates some clear characteristics that help to distinguish him from other members of the community, the firefighter arsonist is not so easily identifiable.

Arson prevention

The best way to prevent arson is for the match never to be lit. Similarly, for the fire service interested in protecting itself against this kind of threat, the ideal solution is not to recruit these individuals in the first place. Recent developments in the area of firefighter selection can help make this a reality. Two approaches have been designed to specifically address the issue of firefighter arson. Both approaches target the problem at the selection phase of the recruitment of volunteer firefighters.

One approach involves using a purpose-built semi-structured interview format. The Firefighter Selection and Screening Interview has been designed to detect several key areas of an individual's life and experiences that have been linked to characteristics of firefighter arsonists. In addition to screening for propensity to light fires, the FSSI also considers a range of behavioral characteristics that may indicate potential to adjust successfully to an operational role within the fire service. Initially designed for use with the volunteer component of the fire service, the FSSI can be adapted for use in the selection of paid personnel as well. The interview is administered by trained interviewers and offers those involved in the selection of operational fire service members an additional tool to help guide selection decisions. While it's not an absolute predictor of propensity to light fires, it provides for a more structured and formalized step in the screening process.

An alternative approach is a questionnaire that can be given to applicants during the selection process. The Arson Screening and Prediction instrument covers a range of areas related to characteristics of the volunteer firefighter arsonist. It's composed of 40 questions and requires about 30 minutes to complete. Each question provides four responses, and the applicant is instructed to select the response that best describes their feelings about the question. The questionnaire can be administered, scored and interpreted by field-level fire administrators.

The ASAP has yet to be formally assessed as to its reliability and validity. However, it reportedly has been constructed on the basis of valid and reliable psychometric instruments and cross-checked against relevant literature. Once again, the questionnaire doesn't offer an absolute predictor of arson propensity, but instead compares a subject's response with characteristics of the volunteer firefighter arsonist profile.

Neither the FSSI nor the ASAP is designed to serve as a criterion for acceptance or rejection of any applicant into the fire service. These tools are best used in conjunction with well-considered selection practices and procedures conducted by experienced fire service personnel.

Each of these screening devices is currently being tested in the Australian and New Zealand fire services, and their performance will be watched with interest. The advent of the FSSI and ASAP offers a new approach to dealing with arson in the ranks and represents the development of additional weapons in the arsenal against firefighter arson.

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Rebekah Doley is a criminal behavior analyst and consulting psychologist specializing in the analysis of arson and fraud. She consults to fire investigation authorities internationally and lectures in the behavioral aspects of arson. Doley completed a major research project in the United Kingdom focusing on the criminal behavior analysis of serial arson while completing her master of science in investigative psychology. She currently is completing a combined Ph.D./master of clinical psychology program at Flinders University of South Australia studying the issue of deliberate firesetting with a view to identifying alternative strategies for better managing this crime. Her background is in human resource management where she has had extensive experience in the areas of recruitment, selection, training and personnel development in both the private and public sector. She may be contacted at rebekahdoley@bigpond.com.