Pyromaniacs, the ones who start fires, have some usual characteristics but are often not identified in time.

The Los Angeles area of California is experiencing unusual, uncontrollable wildfires that have decimated thousands of structures and taken human lives. While climate change and an extraordinarily dry environment with little to no rain in the area over the past year are seen as the primary cause, there may also be another cause—those who start fires. Speculation about an additional fire is now fueling a belief that there may be individuals purposely setting these wildfires, and that has to be investigated.

The involuntary act of setting fires for the sole purpose of enjoying the sight of flames rather than any other reason, such as vandalism, concealing a crime, or financial gain, is known as pyromania. Flames enthrall people who suffer from pyromania and frequently pitch in to assist firemen and victims in the aftermath of the fires they started.

I have worked at psychiatric hospitals, where we have had persons admitted who worked as volunteer firefighter, and, in one case, a young man stole a fire truck only to set it on fire in the woods and then report the fire. He stood around and watched as others attempted to save the fire engine, and he acted as though he were a participant in that effort to save the truck. However, his past had shown prior incidents of this type of behavior.

The patient describes experiencing tension just before lighting the fire, and then a sensation of release or pleasure following the act, which is typical of impulsive disorders. However, people who suffer from pyromania may plan for the fire to start, which is different from those who have other impulse control disorders.

A pyromaniac, for instance, would investigate a deserted warehouse for weeks prior to actually lighting a fire inside. The clinician investigates the link between the fire event and prior behaviors, such as surveying the warehouse, since intervention may be impossible later.

What Constitutes a Pyromaniac?

Since pyromania is a rare illness, researchers have not documented its occurrence and duration well. It is more common in males than in women, and the average age of onset is 18 years. Related disorders include trichotillomania (4.8%), substance abuse (33.3%), kleptomania (23.8%), and affective disorders (including anxiety disorders, 33.3%).

For more than 150 years, there was some disagreement among American psychiatrists as to whether or not pyromania was a real mental illness. While some dismissed pyromania as nothing more than a criminal act or a kind of insanity, others considered it as an actual mental illness deserving of diagnosis.

After much debate in the second half of the twentieth century, the DSM-5 criteria for pyromania as a mental disorder were established, with the exception of cases involving obviously criminal or psychotic behavior. This shift occurred as psychiatry struggled with questions of individual responsibility.

Fires are started by someone with pyromania around once every six weeks.

Symptoms could begin around the time a person hits puberty and continue far into adulthood.

Some additional symptoms are:

1. An obsession with fire and all things related to it an overwhelming desire to start fires
2. Experience the thrill, exhilaration, or calm that comes with watching or kindling a fire.
3. Even if lighting a fire is a pyromaniac’s way of releasing pent-up emotions, some studies suggest that later, they may feel guilty or distressed, particularly if they resisted the need for a long time.

Additional aspects of note regarding anyone who ultimately engages in pyromania include:

Exhibiting problematic behaviors such as impulsivity or violence, a precocious interest in fire that goes beyond simple wonder, past experiences with or witnessing of domestic violence, lack of ability to control emotions and cope, isolation and social problems, academic difficulties.

Someone, therefore, who is impulsively prompted to start fires can be viewed as needing attention or some sense of importance in the community that they feel has not been appropriately given to them. Remember, in order to receive this kind of diagnosis, they must not be starting the fires for financial gain or some criminality, but the sheer pleasure of a relief of tension.

But the bottom line remains that we do not have sufficient research evidence regarding this disorder because it is still relatively rare.