Modus Operandi (3 page)

Arson for Hire

Arson for hire generally involves structure fires. A person owns a building, and for financial reasons, decides it's time to bail out. The owner needs to find an arsonist. He seeks out someone who he feels may be willing to participate in the scheme — he may approach a trusted employee or contact a network of shady characters. A secret meeting is set up with the arsonist.

At the meeting, the professional arsonist will ask for plans of the building, which include sprinkler and alarm systems, types of locks, and hidden, dimly lit points of entry. If there are no secluded entry points, a light may be intentionally left off, so no one can see the arsonist enter the building.

The arsonist usually gives a list of instructions to the building owner to prepare for the arson. In the weeks or days before the fire, the owner will set off false alarms, indicating a problem with the system. This will give him cause not to set the alarm system the evening of the arson.

Another instruction will be to disable the sprinkler system. Sprinkler systems, especially in large buildings, have emergency shut off valves in case of accidental set offs. Most of the time, they are located on an exterior wall or on the lawn adjacent to the building itself. These valves are secured by a chain and padlock. The chain is easily cut with a bolt cutter and the valves closed. This way the fire will not be suppressed or slowed by the sprinklers.

Other instructions to the building owner include ma

lerials the arsonist may need to accelerate the spread of the fire. For example, placing a number of flammable liquids used in the manufacturing process of the company in key locations to spread the fire throughout the building.

Once the arsonist is ready, he will tell the building owner that now is the time to develop a credible alibi and may suggest a weekend trip to the Bahamas.

The arsonist usually sets the fire in the early morning hours for various reasons: less chance of detection because the factory will be closed and traffic will be light on the street, the fire will burn longer before it is discovered, and no workers will be in the building, so loss of lives will be avoided.

The arsonist may or may not break into the building. He may use a key to gain entry or a door will be left unlocked. Once inside, he uses available combustibles along with a device to ensure ignition after his exit from the scene.

Some arsonists may even set up obstacles or devices that will deter the suppression of the fire. These devices could be as simple as chaining fences that the firefighter has to take time to cut open, or positioning chemicals that, when touched by the water used in suppression of the fire, react violently and cause the fire to become hotter and burn faster.

Pyromaniacs

Pyromaniacs are the most complex type of arsonist. They often set large destructive fires with no thought of the consequences. It is believed they enjoy a sort of sexual gratification from starting fires. Their fires are well thought out, almost as well as those of the arsonist for hire, but the pyro-maniac will make all the arrangements for lighting the fire himself. He will study the layout of the building, determine how to disconnect sprinkler and alarm systems, and set traps, not only to slow the firefighters, but to actually hurt them. He will use devices that will make the fire spread quickly and violently. His only intent is to destroy. Pyroma-

niacs are the most dangerous arsonists and the hardest to catch.

Let's walk through a scenario. The arsonist goes to a warehouse district during the daytime hours to scout some possible targets. Once he locates a target, he returns that night to perform additional scouting without detection. He may even, if the building is unoccupied at the time, break into the building to determine if there are enough materials on hand to start and sustain a fire. Once this preplanning is finished, he will carry out his plans.

He returns during the evening hours and places gallon plastic milk containers filled with alcohol throughout the building. He connects these gallon containers with trailers, usually rags soaked in alcohol. He lights the trailers, which will carry the flame throughout the building. He exits the building and may leave altogether or stay in the neighborhood to watch the building burn. Some pyromaniacs only get a kick out of lighting the fire.

Firestarters

Persons who start fires do so for a number of reasons. These reasons may be to seek fame, to get even, personal finance, rage or curiosity. These next few profiles will give the writer some information as to how and for what reasons people start fires.

The Here

Security guards and volunteer firefighters are generally in good positions to start fires. These types of firesetters are attention-seekers or would-be heroes. For example, a security guard working the morning tour of duty ignites a small, controllable fire such as a pile of debris or a trash can. He "discovers" the fire and gives the alarm to save the building. He becomes a hero. Or, a volunteer firefighter sets a controllable, nonlethal fire in a garbage dumpster or small shed. He does this by using materials located at the scene and igniting them. Both the security guard and the firefighter will experiment and eventually branch out to abandoned buildings, and then to occupied buildings, in an attempt to become bigger and better heroes, perhaps even saving someone's life.

These types of fires are usually a spur of the moment decision. Excessive alcohol consumption has been related to these firestarters.

A third type of hero firestarters are police-buff arsonists. Police-buff arsonists are just like the security guards and volunteer firefighter arsonists in that they are attempting to win praise and social recognition and are usually at the scene giving assistance to the authorities. They will light fires at a location such as a home for people with special needs or people who are nonambulatory. They pick these locations because they will get the most sympathy and attention for helping fight the fire.

The Lover

Some arsonists act from vanity and jealous rage. Men tend to set fire to the vehicle or home of a current or former lover to get even with her. His goal is to create large, dangerous fires with the intent of total destruction. He brings flammable and combustible materials to the scene knowing what will happen after igniting them. The apartment building or house itself will be set afire from materials on hand with matches and a lighter. These types of fires are often set late at night, after a heavy drinking binge or a violent argument.

Women, on the other hand, light very small fires, usually on the bed using materials on hand such as facial tissues or the man's clothing. She will make a small combustible pile and set it on fire using matches or a lighter.

The Juvenile

Juvenile firesetters are complex and bewildering to investigate. One may light a fire by playing with matches out of curiosity, or it could be a vengeful or hostile action with the intent of destroying property and life. Most of the time, juvenile firestarters plan the fire well and use materials at the scene and flammable liquids.

Juvenile firestarters are sometimes caught by their own experimentation. In one case, a boy would sit around and watch the flame of his small disposable lighter. One day, the lighter overheated, causing a small explosion. The boy later died from the injuries he received when the lighter exploded and ignited his clothing.

As the juvenile firesetter reaches his teen years, he collects fire tools such as a box of wooden matches and small bottles filled with flammable liquids to experiment with fire bombs. He may even make small pipe bombs by compressing match heads into a pipe. The pipe can be half-inch diameter copper pipe with the ends folded over. The pipe is then thrown into a small fire. The firestarter will sit around to watch it explode. This is very dangerous because the match heads can explode while they are being packed into the pipe.

Eventually, either by themselves or in small groups, they set an abandoned building on fire using combustible materials such as pieces of furniture, bed coverings or curtains. They pile these materials throughout the building, light the piles, and exit running. These building are usually close to their own homes, so they wait at home until the fire trucks arrive, then return to the scene to watch the fire.

The Others

Other arsonists may act alone or with a close friend. Like most firestarters, he will work in darkness to prevent apprehension and to sneak around undetected. He studies the layout of the building, either through remote surveillance or at the scene. He carries a small amount of flammable liquid, approaches the house from a side where he can conceal his actions, splashes or pours the flammable liquid on an outside wall of the building, and ignites it.

This type of fire, even though extremely dangerous, takes more time to start. This delay gives the arsonist enough time to return to his car and drive past as if he were going for a midnight ride. He jumps out to save the day and assists with the evacuation of the building to the extent of suffering injury including smoke inhalation. This type of behavior will happen again and again until he is apprehended. The difference between the "hero" and this arsonist is the

former is seeking attention while the latter is just looking for something to do.

Typical Arson Scenarios

A restaurant is no longer turning a profit and property values in the area are down. The owners decide to recoup their investment through the insurance company. The restaurant is entered during the early morning hours. The doors are pried open and the office is ransacked, a safe may be broken into or removed to indicate a burglary. A flammable liquid is poured on the floor and trailers may be used. Pots or other containers found in the restaurant are used to hold additional flammable liquid. This procedure is continued throughout the building and the arsonists leave some type of delayed fuse mechanism, perhaps a twenty-minute burning candle at the base of a cup filled with alcohol. Another possible time-delay mechanism is a coffeemaker filled with flammable liquids set for a particular time. These mechanisms allow the restaurant owners to exit and get some distance away before the discovery of the fire.

Two burglars realize that their elderly victims have awakened and observed them as they are trying to exit the house. Knowing the elderly couple can identify them as neighborhood kids, the burglars attack and eventually kill the couple. In an attempt to conceal the homicides, they put the couple back in bed and set fire to the bed using material on hand in an attempt to make it look like an accidental smoking-in-bed fire.

A local gang demands pay up money from a local merchant. The merchant refuses to comply with their demands, so the gang decides that it's time to teach him a lesson. Early one morning, a few of the gang members assemble with a homemade napalm-type bomb —bottles filled with gasoline and soap and a fuse made of cloth stuck into the neck of the bottle. They walk or drive by the front of the store, light the cloth fuses, and throw the bottles through the window causing a fair amount of damage.

Some Final Thoughts on Arson

One thing to remember is that the professional arsonist mainly uses items to start, spread, and sustain the fire that are readily found in the building itself. He does not want to draw undue attention to himself by carrying five-gallon gas cans around. The arsonist also has to assume that if the fire is detected early and suppressed, any evidence he left will make a second attempt more difficult. It may even lead to his arrest.

The amateur uses large amounts of flammable liquid to start the fire and combustible materials to spread the fire. He starts the fire without a delay mechanism, usually by open flame. In the process, he may even burn himself.

In dealing with arson, we rarely come across any type of explosive devices. Explosives are usually used just to get the fire going, but if the building is big enough, there may be a number of ignition devices found scattered throughout the property.

For those of you who may be uncertain about what types of flammable liquids are used, they mainly range from gasoline to lighter fluid and alcohol. The storage area of a bar will be used to fuel the fire's growth by starting a fire underneath or near the liquor supply.

Trailer material can be the flammable liquid itself poured in a line on the ground. It could also be cloth or paper soaked in a flammable liquid or a series of small fires or anything else that would cause the fire to spread throughout the building.

When we discuss art these days, we're talking about a business of far-reaching proportions. Art prices have skyrocketed because art is now viewed as a more stable and profitable investment than stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Owning artwork has a uniqueness that other types of investments may lack. For some, an art collection, whether Grandma's silver spoons or a van Gogh, is a more intimate part of a person's life and lifestyle than actual money can ever be. Art therefore has a dual grip on a person: its value as an investment and its aesthetic impact. When these types of objects are stolen, they are often deemed irreplaceable.