Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: arson

arson stories: 49 news summaries

1 - 20 of 49 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

Wildfire Suspect Charged in Heart Attack 'Murders'

Unusual case links arson to deaths

Oct 23, 09 4:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - California officials have taken the unusual step of charging a wildfire arson suspect with murder in the death of 5 people who suffered heart attacks escaping the flames. Prosecutors intend to prove the stress of the fire caused the deaths in the massive 2003 San Bernardino blaze. The groundbreaking case... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • crime • murder • heart attack • arson • California fires • California wildfires • San Bernardino

3 Teens Set Another on Fire, Police Say

15-year-old victim
in Florida will be in hospital for 5 months

Oct 13, 09 5:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Three Florida teens have been charged with the brutal crime of dousing another teenager with a flammable liquid and setting him on fire. The 15-year-old victim, who was sitting by a pool at the time of the attack, is in serious condition and is expected to remain hospitalized for 5... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Florida • arson • juveniles • burn victim • juvenile crime • burned

Teenage Brit Jockeys
Killed in Arson

Police have arrested suspected arsonist in his 30s

Sep 6, 09 7:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two promising apprentice jockeys were killed yesterday in a suspected arson fire set at their apartment building in northern England. "Apprentice of the season" Jamie Kyne, 18, was found dead along with female jockey Jan Wilson, 19, in Kyne's apartment where several riders had gathered for a party. Two... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • horse racing • murder • England • arson • jockeys • North Yorkshire

(Newser) - The fight to contain the deadly Los Angeles-area Station fire has so far cost more than $37 million, the LA Times reports, and that’s not counting property damage or the cost to the environment. The blaze is still burning through the San Gabriel Wilderness, but it’s 42%... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Los Angeles • arson • California wildfires • Station fire

 Lab Tests Substance 
 in LA Wildfire Probe 

Station fire, 42% contained, chars 148K acres

Sep 4, 09 6:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Investigators of a deadly Los Angeles wildfire are having a substance from the scene tested to confirm whether the blaze was man-made. “There was material that didn't belong there," a source tells the Los Angeles Times. "It was clear evidence that the fire was intentionally set.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Los Angeles • firefighters • arson • California wildfires • Station fire

 LA Fire Began as Arson: Feds  

With blaze having killed 2 firefighters, sheriff begins homicide investigation

Sep 3, 09 8:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - The wildfire that has burned 144,000 acres north of Los Angeles was set by arsonists, the US Forest Service said this afternoon. With the blaze having killed two firefighters, authorities are now treating the matter as homicide, KTLA-TV reports, and the LA County Sheriff’s Department has begun an... More »

MORE ABOUT:
investigation • crime • Los Angeles • firefighters • homicide • arson • California wildfires • Station fire • Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

(Newser) - The fire that engulfed a wedding tent in Kuwait and killed 43 women and children in less than 3 minutes was set by the groom's ex-wife, local media reported today. A government spokesman confirmed that the arsonist has confessed, according to the AP, but offered no further details. The incident... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Middle East • wedding • arson • Kuwait • fire

(Newser) - Animal rights militants have torched the home of the CEO of drug giant Novartis and stolen his mother's ashes from a Swiss cemetery, say company officials. Employees' cars have also been vandalized and attacked with crude explosive devices, reports the Wall Street Journal. More »

MORE ABOUT:
drug companies • animal rights • Novartis • grave robbing • animal testing • arson

(Newser) - Officials in the coastal Texas town of Galveston are baffled by a series of arson fires targeting palm trees, the Houston Chronicle reports. “This is strange,” the town’s fire marshal says of the spree, which has hit 30 trees since May. “It’s the first case... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Texas • crime • arson • Galveston • fire • palm tree • Hurricane Ike

(Newser) - Car-insurance fraud spurred by the recession is continuing unabated, Newsweek reports. “Give-ups”—feigning theft or arson to collect insurance money on an unwanted vehicle—are up 24% this year over last, according to an industry group. And claims stemming from suspicious car fires are up 27%. “Normally... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • arson • insurance fraud • auto insurance • cars • car theft

(Newser) - The fire that destroyed a controversial topless coffee shop in Maine late last night was arson, the Kennebec Journal reports. The police are seeking witnesses “who might have seen vehicles parked in that general area around 1am Wednesday morning or anyone walking along the roadway.” Seven people escaped... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • Maine • arson • topless • coffee shop • waitress • Grand View Topless Coffee Shop

(Newser) - Car owners sideswiped by the economy have spurred a nationwide wave of arson and abandonment—last-ditch attempts to collect on insurance, the Wall Street Journal reports. Auto arson claims rose 6% nationally in 2008; in some particularly speculative states, the rate jumped as much as 18%. “Lots of desperate... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • Las Vegas • recession • arson • insurance fraud • cars • economic downturn

Berlin Protesters Torch Luxury Cars

Sardonically named 'BMW' claims responsibility for arsons

Feb 27, 09 3:13 PM CST
(Newser) - As the financial crisis inflames class tensions, economic protest in Berlin has taken the form of arson attacks on luxury cars, Bloomberg reports. Activists have torched more than 2 dozen vehicles this year, and the pace is increasing. A group puckishly calling itself “BMW”—an acronym for "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Berlin • arson • recess • class divide • arsonist • cars • recession depression

 Aussie Arson 
 Suspect Was 
 Volunteer 
 Firefighter 

He's accused of lighting a fire that killed 21 people

Feb 16, 09 3:39 AM CST
(Newser) - The first suspect to be charged in one of the Australian blazes that killed as many as 300 people has been identified as a 39-year-old volunteer firefighter, reports the Times of London. He's accused of igniting a fire that killed 21 people 100 miles east of Melbourne. The suspect's identity... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • firefighters • Melbourne • wildfires • arson • fire

 Aussie Arson Suspect Charged 

Suspect is being held in secret location for his protection

Feb 13, 09 3:12 AM CST
(Newser) - An Australian man has been charged with setting one of the hundreds of deadly brushfires that swept across the state of Victoria, killing up to 300 people and destroying entire towns. He was charged with lethal arson linked to 10 of the deaths, and with possessing child pornography, reports the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • arrest • arson • Victoria • brushfires

(AP) - Police in Australia said they have questioned two people in connection to the raging wildfires that have killed more than 180 people in the state of Victoria. Police declined to say whether the two had been arrested or even detained, and released a statement that described them as "assisting... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • wildfires • arson

(Newser) - When firefighter David Tree noticed the koala, it was moving gingerly over the blackened landscape, its scorched paws clearly causing pain. "I could see she had sore feet and was in trouble, so I pulled over the fire truck," Tree told the Herald Sun. “It was... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • firefighters • wildfires • arson • koala

UK Cops Warn of Killer Stalking Facebook

Manhunt under way after ex-girlfriend's burned corpse is found

Feb 10, 09 5:09 AM CST
(Newser) - British police are hunting a suspected killer believed to have met his victim through Facebook, the Independent reports. The body of a former girlfriend of fairground worker George Appleton's was found burned in her home last week. Four more women have now come forward to say that they have been... More »

MORE ABOUT:
murder • Facebook • fugitive • arson • Britain • Manchester

 300 Feared Dead 
 in Australia Fires 

Task Force begins investigation

Feb 10, 09 2:11 AM CST
(Newser) - More than 300 people may have died in the devastating bushfires that have torched 850 square miles of southeast Australia, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. While the official death toll stands at 173, an official warned that number would rise “steeply” as rescuers discover more bodies. Several people are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • Melbourne • wildfires • natural disaster • arson • deaths • Victoria • brush fires

UPDATED

 Aussie Toll Hits 171; 
 PM Cites 'Mass Murder' 

Small town declared crime scene as devastation continues

Feb 9, 09 9:25 AM CST
(Newser) - The death toll from angry bushfires in Australia jumped to 171 today, reports Reuters, as the country's prime minister, fighting back tears, accused suspected arsonists of "mass murder." Up to 5,000 people have been left homeless; at one relief center, boards covered with Post-It notes beg for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • wildfires • arson • Kevin Rudd • disaster

1 - 20 of 49 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>


from our news partners