how firefighters and police track arsonists

When they arrive, the perimeter turns into a crime scene. Firefighters and gendarmes are working together to determine the origin of the fires. They are part of a specialized investigation cell. Their first objective is to determine the starting point of the fire, in particular thanks to the traces left by the disaster. Everything is analysed, photographed and recorded. In the laboratory, the scientific gendarmerie then looks for DNA traces, fingerprints on the clues collected to go back to the arsonist.

A sentence ranging from ten years in prison to life

In France, there are an average of 4,040 fires per year, 90% of which are linked to human activity. According to the national gendarmerie, at least 10% are of criminal origin. Authors “incur a sentence that can range from ten years in prison to life imprisonment with fines ranging from 100,000 euros to 200,000 euros depending on the circumstances and the consequences caused by this fire”explains Marie-Laure Pezant, spokesperson for the national gendarmerie.