When he was caught, fires decreased in the L.A. area by an astonishing 90 percent. All told he set more than 2,000 fires.
The task forces succeeded in gathering circumstantial evidence, including the fact that when fires were started, Orr’s whereabouts could not be accounted for. They also found a video taken in a convenience store that showed Orr buying two packs of Marlboros despite the fact that he didn’t smoke. In retrospect, doing nothing but tracking him seems crazy because he was able to set many more fires that destroyed property and could have killed someone.
A secret grand jury was empaneled, and the decision was made to end the surveillance. An indictment was obtained, and Orr was arrested on December 4, 1991. He is estimated to have set more than 2,000 fires. After he was arrested, the percentage of brush fires in the area decreased by more than 90 percent.
Orr was being paid to write for respected fire journals, so he considered himself a capable writer and had started a novel called
Points of Origin
, the lingo arson investigators use to describe the point at which a fire started. The book was admitted into evidence at Orr’s trial and provided a real-life road map of his career as an arsonist. Indeed, the book turned out to be the linchpin in the case against him.
Convicted
Orr was convicted of three counts of arson at the end of July 1992 and was sentenced to three consecutive terms of ten years in prison. Orr still maintains his innocence, but the prosecutor, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Michael Cabral, was not about to let him get away with what was literally murder.
The jury was deadlocked eight to four on whether to sentence Orr to the death penalty. As a result of the jury’s inability to come to a unanimous decision, the judge sentenced Orr to life plus twenty years in prison without the possibility of parole.
He remains in prison today.
Q & A
Q. Is arson hard to prove?
A. Yes, unless someone is actually seen lighting something.
Q. Do arson investigators investigate burned automobiles?
A. Not really. There’s usually not enough evidence to determine what actually occurred. Of course, if someone died in the car fire, then the investigator will work with the cops.
Q. What starts most arson fires?
A. Stupid things, like getting mad at a spouse and burning his or her clothes, and then the fire gets out of control.
Q. How do fires burn?
A. Oxygen is the key. Fire burns upward toward the source of oxygen. (A good book for learning about fires is the
Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations
offered by the National Fire Protection Association.)
Q. What is the main job of the arson investigator?
A. Finding out where the fire started.
Q. What are the three elements needed for a fire to start?
A. Fuel, heat, and oxygen. That was called the Fire Triangle until a fourth element, chemical reaction, was added. Now investigators refer instead to the Fire Tetrahedron. You need vapor to start a fire. Indeed, you could stick a math into liquid gasoline and it would be extinguished.
Q. What are two main reasons for fires to start in a home?
A. Space heaters in the winter, usually left too close to flammable objects like drapes or bed linens, and clothes dryers that create spontaneous combustion. Particularly in gas dryers, which get quite hot, towels left in the dryer can begin to smolder and then burst into flames. You shouldn’t leave the house with a dryer running.
Q. What is the number-one cause of fires?
A. Stupidity, most fire experts will tell you.
Q. How many arson fires occur in vehicles?
A. About 20 percent of all fires, according to the ATF.
Q. What is considered the peak time for intentionally set fires across the United States?
A. Halloween, again according to the ATF.
Q. How many arson fires occur every year, and who sets them?
A. The answer to both questions may be surprising, even shocking. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500,000 fires are
The task forces succeeded in gathering circumstantial evidence, including the fact that when fires were started, Orr’s whereabouts could not be accounted for. They also found a video taken in a convenience store that showed Orr buying two packs of Marlboros despite the fact that he didn’t smoke. In retrospect, doing nothing but tracking him seems crazy because he was able to set many more fires that destroyed property and could have killed someone.
A secret grand jury was empaneled, and the decision was made to end the surveillance. An indictment was obtained, and Orr was arrested on December 4, 1991. He is estimated to have set more than 2,000 fires. After he was arrested, the percentage of brush fires in the area decreased by more than 90 percent.
Orr was being paid to write for respected fire journals, so he considered himself a capable writer and had started a novel called
Points of Origin
, the lingo arson investigators use to describe the point at which a fire started. The book was admitted into evidence at Orr’s trial and provided a real-life road map of his career as an arsonist. Indeed, the book turned out to be the linchpin in the case against him.
Convicted
Orr was convicted of three counts of arson at the end of July 1992 and was sentenced to three consecutive terms of ten years in prison. Orr still maintains his innocence, but the prosecutor, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Michael Cabral, was not about to let him get away with what was literally murder.
The jury was deadlocked eight to four on whether to sentence Orr to the death penalty. As a result of the jury’s inability to come to a unanimous decision, the judge sentenced Orr to life plus twenty years in prison without the possibility of parole.
He remains in prison today.
Q & A
Q. Is arson hard to prove?
A. Yes, unless someone is actually seen lighting something.
Q. Do arson investigators investigate burned automobiles?
A. Not really. There’s usually not enough evidence to determine what actually occurred. Of course, if someone died in the car fire, then the investigator will work with the cops.
Q. What starts most arson fires?
A. Stupid things, like getting mad at a spouse and burning his or her clothes, and then the fire gets out of control.
Q. How do fires burn?
A. Oxygen is the key. Fire burns upward toward the source of oxygen. (A good book for learning about fires is the
Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations
offered by the National Fire Protection Association.)
Q. What is the main job of the arson investigator?
A. Finding out where the fire started.
Q. What are the three elements needed for a fire to start?
A. Fuel, heat, and oxygen. That was called the Fire Triangle until a fourth element, chemical reaction, was added. Now investigators refer instead to the Fire Tetrahedron. You need vapor to start a fire. Indeed, you could stick a math into liquid gasoline and it would be extinguished.
Q. What are two main reasons for fires to start in a home?
A. Space heaters in the winter, usually left too close to flammable objects like drapes or bed linens, and clothes dryers that create spontaneous combustion. Particularly in gas dryers, which get quite hot, towels left in the dryer can begin to smolder and then burst into flames. You shouldn’t leave the house with a dryer running.
Q. What is the number-one cause of fires?
A. Stupidity, most fire experts will tell you.
Q. How many arson fires occur in vehicles?
A. About 20 percent of all fires, according to the ATF.
Q. What is considered the peak time for intentionally set fires across the United States?
A. Halloween, again according to the ATF.
Q. How many arson fires occur every year, and who sets them?
A. The answer to both questions may be surprising, even shocking. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500,000 fires are
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