NCJ Number
81299
Journal
Fire and Arson Investigator Volume: 32 Issue: 1 Dated: (July-September 1981) Pages: 21-28
Date Published
1981
Length
8 pages
Annotation
In this first part of a two-part article, the general manager of the Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau in Toronto, Ontario, discusses the problem of fires set to defraud insurance companies, the applicable Canadian law, the types of persons who perpetrate these frauds, and the detection and investigation of suspected frauds.
Abstract
In Canada, a fraud fire is a fire willfully set to collect insurance and is a criminal offense. Each province has a fire marshal's department which is responsible for fire prevention and fire investigation. Organized crime is increasingly involved in fraud fires in Canada. About 100 lives are lost each year in Canada due to deliberately set fires, which cause an annual loss of over $1 billion. Under several sections of the Canadian criminal code, the setter of a fraud fire may be prosecuted for various criminal offenses related to the same fire. The two basic types of fire setters are the 'one-shot gambler,' who usually works alone and plans the fire for a long time, and the paid fire-setter (professional torch), who views fire-setting purely as a business and has no regard for the lives or property of others. Large fire losses involving commercial property often also involve dummy owners, who act as fronts for the property's actual owner. A thorough and systematic investigation of a property's background, its owners' backgrounds, the fire scene, and other fires in the area is necessary to determine if fraud is involved. After the facts concerning the fire's origin have been established, an investigation of all the circumstances leading up to the fire should be conducted. The adjuster and the investigator should cooperate closely with one another. For the article's second part, which deals with prosecution of fire fraud in Canada, California, and some European countries and which suggests preventive measures, see NCJ 81300.