Cheetah7

I have just seen on the news that a volunteer firefighter is the 'number one arsonist suspect' for starting one of the fires in Victoria.

Has anyone else read anything about this?

It beggars belief that a vol. firefighter could do that.

Whoever did it should be tried for murder.

kjj

I take it you don't watch Neighbours then! Apparently lots of fires are started by voluntary firefighters who enjoy the buzz that they then get from fighting them. Personally I wouldn't pee on these &%**£$* if they were on fire (unless I thought it was going to spread).
kjj

Cheetah7

Im sure if my memory serves me correctly, it was suggested on one of the threads on here that voluntary fire fighters have been caught doing this before and there were quite a few people who were angry and disputing this and I must admit, the thought disturbed me as well.

A guy who worked in Adelaide firestation told me a few years ago that it isnt as rare as you would think.

But it is still hard to believe and they should be charged with murder (mass in this case).

If this is true, what kind of stringent checks can be carried out on future applicants?

I dont know and thats for sure.

quoll

That's a b*gger because it puts all volunteer fire fighters under the magnifying glass and gives the service a bad name. Unfortunately it is true though that volunteers have been found to be firebugs in the past. In fact Rudd (I think) made some comment really early on about the need for vetting and monitoring RFS volunteers which was inappropriate at the time because they were still in the middle of fighting it all.

Vash the Stampede

Sadly, this is not uncommon. Deviants are drawn to occupations which provide opportunities to indulge their deviance.

Cheetah7

How on earth can these people be vetted prior to taking them on?

Pollyana

How can you weed them out like that though?
Fighting the Fascination of Fire is a major project within the Queensland Fire Service, they try to work with children and teach them the dangers of fire, but there really is no way of identifying who is likely to start fires - large or small. It is a big problem, not just in Australia, rogue firefighters who have this fascination, but its not something that is easily detectable. Even psychological profiling doesn't uncover everyone's deepest desires and thoughts, and while it can weed some out it will never be 100% reliable.

Cheetah7

God knows how you can weed them out but its a scary thought that there are people like that.

Whatever their mental state though, they killed alot of people in this one and should never walk free again.

slipshot

Would it not be manslaughter - cannot be murder as their intention was not to kill but to start a fire - a very different point?

jad n rich

60 minutes did a story on one such person, he served a very brief spell in jail, then popped up in WA doing guess what? Clue, bush, matches........

snowbunny

The only realistic partial solution is to have them work in pairs at all times, and rotate the pairs, in the hope that being watched by at least once person would stop them doing it "on duty." Rotating the pairs would mean that two of them have less chance of getting buddy-buddy and cooperating in starting a fire.

That still would not stop them from starting a fire off-duty.

MartinLuther

The anger was because it was suggested that all (or most) vols are arsonists not that a vol can be an arsonist. But don't let that misunderstanding ruin a good rant.

Some police are murders.
Some doctors are murderers.
Some teachers are paedophiles.
Some parents abuse their children.
etc...

Why does it come as such a surprise that some firees are arsonists?

MartinLuther

It all happens off duty. You don't work on you own at a firefight.

BadgeIsBack

In fact, no surprise at all!

TMRE

You know their intention was not to cause loss of life then?