What motivates someone to start a fire?

Spain is experiencing one of its worst summers in terms of wildfires, raging from north to south amid a relentless heat wave. In recent days, dozens of fires raging in several regions—Galicia, Castilla y León, Madrid, Extremadura, and Andalusia—have left two dead, more than a dozen people hospitalized, thousands evacuated, and more than 30,000 hectares devastated. Although the cause of many is still unknown—apart from the effects of climate change and the heat wave—it has recently become public knowledge that some of the fires that have burned across Spain this summer have been arson.

In fact, four people involved in the fires have recently been arrested, and since the beginning of summer, up to 25 people have been arrested for starting arson across Spain. However, the motives behind these arsons can be very diverse. "It's a form of violent behavior, with motivations similar to other types of crimes. But there are also arsonists, who feel an uncontrollable urge to light fires," explains Antonio Pueyo, professor of the psychology of violence at the University of Barcelona (UB).

However, the expert warns that pyromania "is rare and has relative criminological importance" in terms of the origin of fires, because most are not the work of people with mental disorders. Instead, they tend to stem from anger, revenge, or economic interests, "as may have been the case with the Ávila firefighter," Pueyo points out. According to data from the State Prosecutor's Office, in 2023, 68 percent of fires in Spain were the result of negligence, while 19 percent were intentional, and the rest had unknown causes.

According to the psychologist, the predominant profile among people arrested for starting a fire is men between 30 and 40 years old. Pueyo adds that, in the case of forest fires, they often involve people "linked to rural areas, with a certain level of social maladjustment or on the margins of psychosocial functioning."

The psychological consequences that someone who sets a fire may suffer also vary depending on the person's profile and motivation. Typically, "the criminal act is accompanied by a feeling of guilt, shame, or pain, especially when someone dies or a serious crime is committed," explains Pueyo, since once the fire has started, the consequences are uncontrollable. Furthermore, those who commit arson crimes are not usually repeat offenders: "they are one-time criminals," the expert points out.

The same does not apply to arsonists. They "do achieve a feeling of relaxation, of tranquility, of having achieved their goal": "It is, in a way, a euphoric pleasure," indicates the psychologist. Furthermore, arsonists "have a fairly chronic and repetitive history," which leads them to repeat their behavior.

A decade of fire and arrests

Between 2014 and 2023, 3,600 people were arrested for burning more than one million hectares of forest land in the State. In 2019, there was a record number of arrests, with 429 people, and not even the pandemic slowed this trend, with 352 arrests in 2020. The lowest figure was in 2018, with 245 people arrested for causing or being involved in the origin of a fire. However, the number of arrests has little or no relation to the number of convictions. Of the 420 people arrested for causing forest fires in 2022 in the State, only 63 resulted in a conviction.

The Penal Code provides for penalties of between six months and one year for anyone who lights fires in mountains or forested areas without the flames spreading. However, if the act endangers the life and safety of others, the penalties can increase to 20 years. Despite these punitive measures, Pueyo insists that "those who commit these acts don't analyze them rationally": "They don't consider whether they're just burning the garden, the house, or a tree."