Up in smoke: Arson numbers on rise

LIMA -- The yellow caution tape flaps lightly in the wind. An acrid, smoky odor lingers in the air. Charred frames are all that remain of windows, the siding melted or burned away nearby.

The scene is one that happens more often than firefighters would like. A vacant house goes up in smoke and flames. It happened again early last week along Brower Road in American Township. It was a two- or three-time-a-week event elsewhere in Lima earlier in the year, officials said.

"Vacant properties are always a problem in our town. That's something that's been a problem in the past and that's something that's going continue to be a problem," Lima Fire Department arson investigator Toby Jenkins said. "The problem that we have is, for the most part, the people that actually own the houses, whether it's a bank out of this town or on the other side of the state, or people that live in the vicinity don't maintain the properties and make them marketable so people want to move in them. They fall into disrepair and they're going to have undesirable people get inside there and do whatever they want to do in there."

Times are tough. Money is scarce. The combination tempts some to seek the easy way out. In some cases, that means lighting up their home.

Fire and insurance officials say arson always has been a problem. At issue now, however, are new trends. The national housing market and mortgage crisis has led to an increase in foreclosures. Experts say they are just beginning to see signs of an emerging trend - burning up the house to get the insurance money. High gas prices are also leading to a rise in intentionally set vehicle fires.

Those watching the trends say it is too early to tell how big an issue it will become. However, it is an issue investigators are aware of and monitoring.

Is it a big problem?

Arson fires statewide in the past two years are up - reaching 20-year highs in 2006 and 2007, according to the Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal. There were more than 8,800 arson cases in Ohio in 2007 with losses estimated at more than $151 million.

The losses go beyond a dollar figure. There were 204 people injured and 69 killed last year in arson-related blazes. There were 433 injuries to firefighters and two firefighter deaths associated with arson, the state fire marshal's statistics said.

"The underlying message is that arson is a crime. Oftentimes, people don't realize it's a crime and they also don't realize it's not a victimless crime," said Shane Cartmill, spokesman for the Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal. "Even if the building is empty, you are putting people at risk. You put people at risk by the firefighters having to respond to that fire."

The potential for injuries is not limited to the fire scene, Cartmill said. A large number of incidents involving firefighters occur on the road with crashes while they are responding. In that scenario, any motorist along the route could be considered at risk, he said.

"Anything that we can do to reduce the number of fires reduces the number of incidents - reduces the number of crashes, the number of fire truck crashes," Cartmill said. "There's also the insurance aspect of it. When you have fire, somebody has to pay for it. We all start paying for it through insurance and also through property values."

The burning of vacant homes, in particular, is one area where the latest available two-year trend shows an increase in incidents. Cartmill said the number of cases statewide of vacant structure fires climbed from 1,266 in 2005 to 1,498 in 2007. The estimated dollar loss for the same period is also up: $22.7 million in 2006, up from $14.9 million a year earlier, he said.

In Lima, vacant structure fires have been an issue for years, Jenkins said.

"I've been in this office for 14 years, and it's been a problem since day one. We go on vacant property fires all the time," Jenkins said. "The bad part about those kinds of situations is there's little, if any, leads to getting a prosecution out of it."

The number of incidents varies year by year, Jenkins said. In a busy year, 70 fires in vacant homes are not uncommon. During slower years, the number may be closer to 50, he said.

The biggest problem firefighters have when it comes to fighting fires in vacant structures is they cannot change their approach, Jenkins said. There's always a chance someone is in the structure.

"One of the biggest things that I fear from that whole situation is we're sending our firefighters in on a house that's in disrepair. A lot of people would like to say it's a big trash fire," Jenkins said. "Well, you know, we can't say that. There are houses sitting next to it we have to protect. We don't know what the condition of that house is when we go in. Our job is to put the fire out. That's what our guys are going to do."

Economy a factor in emerging trends

Any time the economy slows down, the potential exists for a surge in arson, experts said. The recent economic slowdown in combination with soaring gas prices and the deepening foreclosure crisis is leading investigators and others to be on high alert.

Signs are pointing toward a number of possible new trends: desperate homeowners torching houses to get out of financial trouble and desperate motorists setting gas-guzzling vehicles ablaze to save on gas costs.

"Warning flares of a potential spike in arsons by desperate homeowners are popping up all around the country," said Jim Quiggle, spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. "Whether they add up to a full-blown national trend is unclear. Investigators are on high alert because traditionally insurance fraud does increase when the economy becomes troubled."

It is an issue the group was starting to recognize last fall. The group cited falling home values and tighter lending as factors contributing to squeezing people to the brink of financial disaster. The coalition also noted in October that more than $50 billion in adjustable-rate mortgages were reset, adding to the problem.

"You're seeing suspicious fires involving homes in foreclosure popping up in pockets around the country - far more so than in past years," Quiggle said. "The warning signals are beginning to pile up that we're potentially on the verge of a large-scale spreading of home arsons by desperate homeowners. It's too early to say that the tsunami is taking off and is heading toward the beachhead."

Investigators and insurance personnel also are tracking the impact of high gas prices on vehicle arsons.

"Anecdotally, we're seeing a lot more torching of vehicles, especially high-end SUVs, than we have in previous years," Quiggle said. "The lethal combination of high gas prices, a sinking economy and the subprime crisis are converging to put homeowners and drivers in very tight financial binds. Growing numbers are seeking financial relief through insurance payouts by arson."

Statistics that bear out the stories have been difficult to locate.

"It's very difficult to document that. We are aware of it," Cartmill said. "We're certainly looking for that possibility. As far as tracking the numbers, we don't have data that would back up that claim yet. The investigators are aware of it. They are looking for it in any suspicious vehicle fire."

Some people are skeptical that the figures, when available, will show any noticeable change that can be attributed to economic factors.

"I'm skeptical that anything you are hearing anecdotally will translate when the numbers come out. We don't have that recent data, but what I'm saying is that most arsons do not involve economic motives," said John Hall, division director for fire analysis and research with the National Fire Protection Association. "From similar periods in the past when we do have data, we haven't seen any correlation. I don't think we'll see a statistical impact this time. I'm not saying there haven't been people in a bad situation that have set fires. I expect they will be as they were in the past anecdotal, individual cases."