1989 NFPA ARSON REPORT

1989 NFPA ARSON REPORT

ARSON ’91

Note: NFPA literature defines incendiary fires as those “for which hard evidence indicates the fire was deliberately set.” Suspicious fires are defined as those for which “less conclusive evidence” exists pointing to deliberate intent. Arson is the actual “crime of setting a fire.”

  • In 1989 the number of reported incendiary and suspicious structure fires throughout the nation declined by approximately 2,500, or 2.5 percent. There were approximately 97,000 incendiary and suspicious fires in 1989. This decline follows the general trend since 1977. In 10 of the past 12 years the number of incendiary and suspicious structure fires has declined. The cumulative drop from 1977 to 1989 was 42 percent, or 70,500 fires.
  • The number of deaths in 1989 related to incendiary and suspicious fire declined 16.9 percent to 615. However, this number is very close to the number of deaths reported in 1977. Hie years from 1977 to 1989 have shown wide fluctuations in the number of deaths related to incendiary and suspicious fire, and few assumptions can be made from these statistics.
  • In 1989 the number of incendiary and suspicious vehicle
  • fires declined 13.2 percent to 46,000.
  • Incendiary and suspicious fires remain the highest cause of property damage from fire. Damage to structures and vehicles from these fires in 1989 totaled about S 1.7 billion, a decline of 2.8 percent. When outdoor fires are figured into the picture, the overall number of incendiary and suspicious fires jumps to 600,000 and the property damage caused by these fires exceeds $2 billion.
  • The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports indicate that 43 percent of all arson arrests in 1989 were of juveniles (under the age of 18). Thirty-nine percent of all arson offenses solved by arrest involved juveniles. Juvenile involvement in arson is greater than for any other crime.
  • More than seven percent of all arson arrests were of children under 10 years of age. Almost 30 percent of all arson arrests were of children under the age of 15.
  • Only 15 percent of this year’s arson offenses were solved by arrest.

The information presented above is taken from a summary of the NFPA’s annual arson report, US. Arson Trend and Patterns – 1989.

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