The Burning Question

As I write this, an arsonist roams free here in Los Angeles. Indeed, we may be talking about multiple arsonists, either operating independently or cooperatively. It is an unsettling notion to know that out there lurks a person or persons with the urge to destroy and the inclination to act on it. In my very neighborhood this is happening, although it's only fair to note that the neighborhood encompasses no small amount of territory.

I understand that it has been cars in garages and carports set ablaze. I suppose it's more likely that the arsonist appreciates the easy of burning cars rather than that he (or she) harbors ill will towards cars. Still, nothing can be overlooked. Cars often make me plenty mad, and I inhibit myself better than some. Whoever is doing it (and why), they are clearly quite motivated, especially if there's just one person. There have been dozens of them in just a few days.

It's said that firefighters themselves are guilty of arson to an inordinate degree. They are motivated by the validation they get from putting out fires, and so they set them deliberately in order to put them out. This is, of course, a small minority that stains the overwhelmingly good and heroic men and women of the fire department, but it is there anyway. Someone I knew went to federal prison under such circumstances, as a matter of fact.

One wonders why the perpetrator is doing it in this case, and what the pattern might be. Knowing that would ease the anxiety many are feeling right now. People are taking turns sleeping and patrolling their blocks. That's what got me interested enough to write about the thing. Anything that gets people motivated enough to do something must be worth writing about. People can barely be moved to make snide jokes about earth-shattering political events.

I hate to provoke the idea that anyone ought to worry. My guess is that I'm statistically more likely to perish in a car accident or from heart disease, and that doesn't change because of an arsonist any more than it did because a few people were victims of a shark. My primary interest is just in uncovering what's now a mystery, even as at least one arsonist has been captured on video and his car identified. Why, I wonder?