Offender Profile: Overview

A number of terms are used to describe individuals who are deliberate fire-setters, these include ‘fire-bug’, ‘fire-raiser’, ‘incediarist’, ‘arsonist’, and ‘pyromaniac’.

‘Pyromania’ is a recognised term in psychiatry although the definition is not commonly used in Britain. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders describes the essential features of pyromania as:

‘deliberate and purposeful (rather than accidental) fire-setting on more than one occasion; tension or affective arousal prior to setting fires; and intense pleasure, gratification or relief when setting the fires or witnessing or participating in their aftermath. In addition, there is a fascination with, interest in, curiosity about or attraction to fire and its situational context or associated characteristics (e.g. uses, consequences, and exposure to fires). The fire-setting is not done for monetary gain, as an expression of socio-political ideology, to conceal criminal activity, to express anger or vengeance, to improve one’s living circumstances, or in response to a delusion or hallucination’

(Source: Barker 1994:6)

Although the fire-setting results from a failure to resist an impulse, there may be considerable advance preparation for starting the fire, and the person may leave obvious clues. People with the disorder are often recognised as regular ‘watchers’ at fires in their neighbourhood, frequently set off false alarms, and show an interest in fire-fighting paraphernalia. Their fascination with fire leads some to seek employment or volunteer work as a fire-fighter. They may be indifferent to the consequences of the fire for life or property, or they may get satisfaction from the resulting destruction, (Barker 1994:6).