An act of arson in Minnesota involves voluntarily, maliciously and willfully setting fire to the property of another, or burning property that you own for an inappropriate purpose, such as fraudulent insurance claims.
The severity of the offense is deterimined by assessing the dollar value of the property or nature of the injury or death to the victim of the fire. Other factors that contribute to the degree of arson charges include whether the structure was inhabited by a person, the time of day in which the fire occurred, and the proximity of a person's residence to the burned structure. Minnesota arson statutes outline six arson crimes:
For years, fire investigators have been instructed to look for key "indicators" of arson activity. Crazed glass, melted copper wiring, and melted steel were all said to indicate an unusually hot fire, consistent with the use of accelerants. Uneven burn patterns were said to indicate multiple ignition points, another indicator of arson. These methods of fire investigation appear to provide a "scientific" basis for expert opinions as to whether arson is involved in a particular case. However, more up-to-date research suggests that much of the conventional wisdom of these theories are simply wrong.
