

Thus a tenant who sets fire to his rented house would not be guilty of common law arson, while the landlord who set fire to a rented dwelling house would be guilty. Moreover, for purposes of common law arson, possession or occupancy rather than title determines whose dwelling the structure is. Of another Burning one's own dwelling does not constitute common law arson, even if the purpose was to collect insurance, because "it was generally assumed in early England that one had the legal right to destroy his own property in any manner he chose". A barn could be the subject of arson if occupied as a dwelling.

Dwelling includes structures and outbuildings within the curtilage. since arson protected habitation, the burning of an unoccupied house did not constitute arson." At common law a structure did not become a residence until the first occupants had moved in, and ceased to be a dwelling if the occupants abandoned the premises with no intention of resuming their residency. The destruction of an unoccupied building was not considered arson: ". Of the dwelling 'Dwelling' refers to a place of residence. Any injury or damage to the structure caused by exposure to heat or flame is sufficient. No significant amount of damage to the dwelling was required. Burning At common law charring to any part of dwelling was sufficient to satisfy this element. Malicious For purposes of common law arson, "malicious" refers to action creating a great risk of a burning. Historically, the common law crime of arson had four elements: "burning" and Edward Coke has indictment of burning (1640).

The term derives from Law French arsoun (late 13th century), from Old French arsion, from Late Latin arsionem "a burning," from the verb ardere, "to burn." Julio González, the perpetrator behind the Happy Land Fire killed 87 in 1990, likely as revenge against his ex-girlfriend John Leonard Orr, the cause of roughly 2,000 Los Angeles fires, who himself was arson investigator and Raymond Lee Oyler, the cause of 24 fires and $9,000,000 in damages. Most acts of arson are not committed by pyromaniacs. Pyromania is an impulse control disorder characterized by the pathological setting of fires. Arsonists normally use an accelerant (such as gasoline or kerosene) to ignite, propel and directionalize fires, and the detection and identification of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) is an important part of fire investigations. Ī person who commits arson is referred to as an arsonist. In such cases, a person destroys their own property by burning it and then lies about the cause in order to collect against their insurance policy. A common motive for arson is to commit insurance fraud. The crime is typically classified as a felony, with instances involving a greater degree of risk to human life or property carrying a stricter penalty. Though the act typically involves buildings, the term arson can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercraft, or forests.
