About 100 firefighters are convicted of arson, every year

More than 100 firefighters are convicted of arson each year, but a deficiency of archiving makes it difficult to track

EDMONTON, Canada — In ray of unpaid firefighter Lawson Schalm facing charges of 18 counts of arson, the persisting problem of firefighter arson has garnered world attention.

Arson master Edward Nordskog said that firefighter arson is difficult to way because authorities don’t differentiate firefighters from different arsonists erstwhile keeping records. Sometimes, he said, documents are not kept astatine all.

Firefighter arson, Nordskog said, is not a caller inclination and has been a long-standing issue.

“There’s astir 100 firefighter arsonists convicted each twelvemonth successful North America and each of them are serial arsonists, which intends 3 aliases much fires,” Nordskog told CBC.

According to Nordskog, firefighter arsonists thin to beryllium young males who precocious joined the occurrence service, who whitethorn go bored, desire nickname and struggle pinch anger aliases frustration.

“They are the heroes, looking for nickname … immoderate are bored, seeking excitement. A batch of arsonists, their motive is sometimes based connected a batch of anger and vexation … aliases request to get free of stress,” he said.

Some firefighter arsonists consciousness the request to “live up to the warfare stories of their parents aliases uncles, who whitethorn person been connected the occurrence work successful the past,” said Nordskog.

Advances successful occurrence safety, prevention and building materials person importantly reduced the number of fires successful North America, which whitethorn explicate why immoderate firefighter arsonists go bored.

“It’s not uncommon for a firefighter to not spot a occurrence for months astatine a time, and boredom sets in,” Nordskog said