WHY FIRES ARE STARTED BY PEOPLE

The reason fires are started by people can generally be put into 2 categories.

a) Accidental: 
By far the most common of causes, accidental fires, or “non-intentional fires” are as a result of ignorance, incompetence, or complacency.
These can include:

• Unattended camping, cooking and heating fires
• Children playing with matches
• Discarding of burning cigarette butts
• Burning rubbish on high fire risk days
• Undertaking prescribed burning operations without sufficient precautions
• Use of fireworks in high fire risk areas
• Use of “tracer” bullets
• Undertaking certain work tasks (e.g. use of chainsaws) in high fire risk environments
• Breaking glass bottles and leaving them in the veld

b) Intentional: 
In this category, fires can be set for a variety of reason that may include intent to cause substantial damage.
Examples include:

• Financial gain: Firesetters motivated by financial gain may come from the wildfire industry itself, for example companies that gain from firefighting operations (supplying tools and equipment, flying services, provision of ground forces, fire investigation, support services, post-fire monitoring services, etc.), and staff who receive overtime.
• Revenge: Usually a case of a disgruntled employee who decides to cause damage to the property of his previous employer. Domestic differences are also known to be a cause.
• Hiding an existing crime: Cases have been recorded where fires are set in an attempt to destroy evidence linked to a separate crime.
• Murder: While very rare, wildfire can be used to commit this serious crime.
• Recognition: This occurs among members or ex-members of volunteer firefighting organisations, whereby they set the fire, then report it and/or assist in rescuing helpless people and extinguishing it in the hope of being recognised as a local hero. Such fire setters usually also make efforts to inject themselves into the investigation, or interact with the local Press for maximum recognition.
• Vandalism: Usually restricted to teenagers, boredom or peer pressure leads to this destructive activity, usually in close proximity to where they live.
• Mental illness: While very rare, true pyromania is recognised in some circles as a cause of intentional ignitions.

Determining how the fire started is of great importance if such acts are to be stopped. For this reason wildfire investigations need to be undertaken.

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