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Between 43 and 49 percent of fires attended by fire agencies annually in Australia occur in vegetation (SCRGS 2006). Analysis by the AIC of fire agency data from across Australia indicates that vegetation fires are a large problem in urban environments. For example, in NSW where fire services are most clearly delineated between urban, rural and land management agencies:

The routine activities theory of crime posits that crime can occur when there is a convergence of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the lack of a capable guardian. Situational crime prevention assumes that crime is a rational choice by offenders and that crime can be prevented by hardening targets to increase the risks and reduce the rewards.

Despite interest in predicting the occurrence of bushfires in Australia, little is known about the relative importance of environmental factors and their interaction in determining fire frequency. In particular, human aspects of the environment and their relationship to fire have been the subject of little research. Recently completed research (Davidson 2006) looked at several environmental factors and their effect on unplanned fires in the Sydney basin.

There have been no published studies in Australia focusing on the offending history of arsonists, but a number of international studies have looked at arson and repeat offending. These studies have relied on samples of convicted arsonists, including those in prison and those receiving treatment in hospitals. However, many arsonists are not caught, and those who are may not necessarily face court or be sent to prison. This means that arsonists who are studied in prison or hospitals may not be representative of all arsonists.

Although there has been international research on the reoffending of arson offenders, published data on alleged arsonists in Australia are limited to police statistics on arson charges. There is no published Australian research on the recidivism of arsonists or bushfire arsonists. This bulletin reports on 1,099 arson and 133 bushfire arson defendants who appeared in NSW courts between 2001 and 2006 ^(a). The typical NSW firesetter was male (89%), and young (mean age 27 years), this was the same for arsonists and bushfire arsonists.

Abstract

Homicides which involve the use of fire are believed to be quite rare, although cases such as the Childers Backpacker Hostel fire in 2000 in which 15 people died, serve to focus attention on the crime. When associated with homicide, fire may be the weapon used to commit the homicide, or may be involved after the homicide. Fire that is used post-mortem may be intended to conceal the homicide, destroy evidence, dispose of the body or prevent identification of the victim.

The AIC has recently undertaken research investigating the use of fire in homicides in Australia. The National Homicide Monitoring Program database, containing data on all homicides known to police in Australia between 1989-90 and 2004-05, was used to identify the 100 homicide incidents where fire was responsible for the death, or the death was recorded as occurring in association with the arson.

Fires that are lit on high fire danger days are larger, more intense and more difficult to control than on other days. Although there is little conclusive evidence that arsonists specifically target high fire danger days (see Bushfire arson bulletin no. 39), deliberate bushfires which are lit on these days are potentially more dangerous and, as they require more effort and resources to suppress, they impact on the ability of fire services to fight other fires.

The following new titles have been added to the growing collection of arson-related literature that can be found in the searchable bibliographic database. In addition to these titles, the database provides access to major bushfire arson news articles. Of the 10 titles listed, the last three are Australian.

The Australian Institute of Criminology recently completed an extensive analysis of bushfire data collected by Australian fire agencies (Bryant 2008). Approximately 280,000 vegetation fires from 18 Australian fire and land management agencies were included in the analysis, representing around five years of fire data from each agency. The analysis focused on spatial and temporal trends in deliberate vegetation fires - when and where fires occurred, particularly in comparison with non-deliberate fires.

Some communities have a higher propensity for arson than others, and the demographic characteristics of each community seem to contribute. For some time, research has endeavoured to uncover those demographic variables associated with bushfire arson to inform the targeting of community-based programs to combat firelighting as well as the content of those programs.

There are programs in Australia and other countries aimed at reducing the fire-setting activities of young arsonists (Muller & Stebbins 2007). Evaluating the effectiveness of these programs is quite rare. However, research in the United States has evaluated fire-setting interventions up to a year after the intervention occurred (Kolko 2001).

Bushfire arson imposes significant environmental and economic costs on Australia, but arsonists are difficult to catch and even more difficult to convict (Muller 2008). Two studies in the United States (US) sought to determine if an increase in the level of law enforcement intensity - more police officers per head of population - would help to reduce bushfire arson. In the first study, the relationship between arson and levels of law enforcement was analysed over 12 years in 27 US states (Donoghue & Main 1985).

There are many patterns in bushfire ignitions (Bryant 2008). Some of these are geographical; others relate to the time of day or to the day of the week when ignition occurred. A number of inferences can be made about the strong relationship between bushfire cause and ignition pattern.

Like many crimes, bushfire arson exhibits clustering (ie multiple offences committed in a short space of time). A recent study found evidence that in Florida, arson events are clustered over periods of up to 11 days (Prestemon & Butry 2005). The tight clustering of suspicious or incendiary bushfire ignitions observed in many parts of Australia suggests that this may also be occurring locally (Bryant 2008).