What do these people have to gain?

In my hometown in Pa. there was an arsonist who was also a volunteer fireman. He lit the fires so he could put them out. Hard to figure why these guys do it in the bush. Haven’t heard that anyone has been arrested yet, but it happens every year. Just so happens this year that the conditions were all just perfect for the huge fires. Lightning also starts them, sparks from exhausts, all sorts of things. I think it is interesting that arsonists are almost exclusively male????

Trolls don’t just exist online. Some people are miserable or destructive, just because they can.

@rooeytoo – Interesting story. I assume no-one was hurt in the fires lit by the fireman? What I can’t fathom is how they can continue to light new fires when they know hundreds have been killed. It’s mass murder. I know a lot of the fires that burnt much of Greece last year and the year before were started by arsonists that had to gain from the price of the land dropping. Is something similar the case in Australia?

@laureth – There must surely be a difference between destructive for fun and intentional murder.

I feel sorry for the families and animals, I don’t know what they think but it’s twisted, we had a similar problem in my home town when the man was captured he said he did it because he wanted to make a statement!!!

It’s an illness, I don’t think there is a cure. But I understand it’s similar to drug addiction, you can be programmed to knock it the hell off. They do it as long as they can get away with it. It satisfies they’re twisted needs.

True I think it’s more for the rush of fear of been captured

I doubt the arson knew how big the fire was going to get. I find it quite unlikely that they purposely lit the fires in order to kill innocent people.

Then again, humanity is filled with disgusting people who have disgusting, unreasonable thoughts. So while I find it unlikely, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that the person did intentionally start the fires with the intent of murdering people.

The person gained a thrill, that’s what they had to gain. And the person is either still giddy because of the chase that’s now going on, or is seriously freaked out about being caught.

Or he may not even care what will happen!

Go watch The Dark Knight, and pay attention to Alfred’s speech. “Some people just want to watch the world burn.” They don’t need to “gain” anything, or have any logical goal. The destruction is what motivates them.

Or do you remember Terminator 2 when the terminator said “it’s in our nature to destroy our selves.”

Some people are just sick & twisted.

there is a variety of reasons as to why someone might light a fire (eg insurance fraud, burning rubbish, declassifying a protected environment, scaring a neighbour) but I am sure that, unless we’re talking about the sort of psycho that goes around chopping up people indiscriminately with a chainsaw, the arsonist had now idea that things would get so much out of control. Don’t forget that it’s pretty hot Down Under this time of year, and in some of those places there were pretty strong winds that caused the wildfires.

At risk of giving these sick people’s twisted brains too much credit, I think there may be an ulterior motive for these fires besides satisfying their pyromaniac tendencies.

In addition, points raised that speculate that the perpetrators may not have realised that the fires would have gotten so out of hand are non-starters. If you click the CNN link I posted above the report tells of more fires being lit. These people already know the scale of the destruction which has been caused and are still doing it…

I just can’t get my head around it. Thanks for all the thoughts, if anyone has anymore please post away…

Obviously these kind of people have a psychological dis-order and could use some therapy/counseling.

I think this is something similar to Munchausen by proxy syndrome (MBPS) where a parent or caregiver misleads others into thinking that the child has medical problems by lying and reporting fictitious episodes.

Think of it as the act of raping nature. A dysfunctional, violent, terrorizing, demeaning, power play.

My rowing coach’s daughter’s boyfriend’s friend’s sister and her boyfriend went to Victoria to visit her Dad as her parents had separated. The mother back home got a text message from her daughter saying farewell. The three of them were burnt to death in the father’s home.

I cannot possibly comprehend what could drive someone to start these fires, even after the death and destruction had already started.

@shrubbery – There are more stories like that coming out now and probably will continue for some time. Each one is heartbreaking. Did you see the video some kid took and lived to tell the tale. I have never experienced fire like that, it is hard to comprehend that you can’t run away from it, but I know you can’t. I am involved in dogs always and the KC of Vic set up a special bank account, details of which are on their website so you can make donations to help dog people who have been affected.