Young, white and male the usual suspect
WHAT kind of person deliberately lights fires, placing innocent lives at risk and potentially causing immense damage? Young, white males with social issues, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
Investigators believe the massive bushfire that emergency services have been battling in the Herveys Range region for the past week was the work of a firebug.
A smaller grassfire at the Ring Rd is also being investigated as suspicious and the jury is still out on the cause of the large bushfire at Toolakea.
Bond University associate professor of criminology Dr Terry Goldsworthy said arsonists struck for a number of reasons but analysis showed they were almost always male, and aged between 15 and 30 years old.
“The Australian Institute of Criminology has looked into arsonists in a fair bit of detail,” Dr Goldsworthy said.
“They found they were pre- dominantly racially white and there was often a background of having a large family, broken home and being of low socio- economic status.
“There is usually some evidence of prior criminal history, poor social skills and they are often unemployed or working in unskilled jobs.”
Dr Goldsworthy said the motivation behind arson attacks involved financial gain, revenge and concealing other crimes. He said there were cases where mental illness compelled people to start fires, but pyromania was rare.
Generating excitement and general boredom were some of the main motivators, according to Dr Goldsworthy.
Fires were also statistically more likely to be deliberately lit on the weekend rather than a weekday.
Children were suspected to be among the main contributors to arson cases with many deliberately lit fires located near school grounds and being lit shortly after school hours.
Rangewood Rural Fire Brigade first officer Jim Besgrove said historically in Townsville suspicious fires peaked during school holiday periods.
However, he was confident that the Herveys Range blaze that had ripped through properties west of Townsville this week was the work of someone more sinister.
Police continued to investigate the blaze with the Criminal Investigation Branch leading inquiries.
Anyone with information that could help police should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Police Link on 131 444.