in the minds of arsonists, causing many fires to start

The fires ravaged nearly 8,000 hectares in Gironde during the summer. They also multiplied everywhere in France, often of criminal origin. 26 suspected arsonists have been arrested in the past two months. They are mostly men, aged 15 to 40, sometimes forest guards or firefighters. In the Hérault, a fire soldier explained his act by a need for strong sensations. “He is a gentleman who is 36 years old, who is the father of two children, who has a job. He is someone who is unknown to the police, he is fully aware of the problem he had, of this addiction“, explains Me. Marion Barre, his lawyer.

For investigators and experts, the passage to the act is mostly dictated by an impulse. “For some, there is an extremely sexualized dimension, at least of satisfaction, pleasure, fascination“, analyzes the teacher Patrick-Ange Raoult, expert in psychopathology and criminology. On the ground, certain clues are not misleading: fire starts in the middle of the night, to avoid witnesses, or several fires in a short time in the same place. 30% of fires are of criminal origin.