![]() The research team has been actively tracking incidents in 2020 that fit the operational definition, and work is already underway to track older incidents and expand the database. Until now, there has been no known attempt to track FaW incidents, as national fire reporting systems typically classify all fire-related incidents as “arson.” The High Threat Response Program recognized not only the importance of this threat but also its specific characteristics that require special considerations during an integrated response. Oftentimes fire and/or smoke is used in addition to other weapons and tactics. Actual and thwarted attempts to utilize fire as a weapon (FaW)to inflict harm on victims or to create a diversion, among other strategies, places FaW in a separate category of fire-related incidents, and requires careful consideration of the potential or real complications fire can introduce to a scene.įire as a Weapon, or Active Violence with Fire, refers to incidents, actual or thwarted, where fire/smoke is directly used to inflict harm on a person or a group of people, as well as incidents where fire/smoke/fire alarm are introduced to create a diversion and complicate response/rescue efforts. The presence of fire during an active violence incident brings both police and fire departments to the scene and increases the risk of sustaining injuries by both victims and first responders. The suspect was neutralized before anyone sustained injuries, but due to the public location, numerous attendees, and multiple threat modalities, it could have turned into a much more complex incident. In another incident in New York City, a suspect armed with two handguns, multiple knives, rope, wire, and a full can of gasoline, fired indiscriminate shots in the air outside a cathedral during a Christmas concert. ![]() The suspect refused to surrender or release the hostage from the burning house, and both of them were pronounced dead at the scene. ![]() The fire department were not able to get close to the fire and extinguish it due to the threat of explosives at the scene and the police department could not advance into the house and secure it while fire was still present. The suspect then detonated explosives that set the residence on fire, causing more explosions. In an incident in Washington State, an armed suspect involved in a domestic violence dispute, engaged police in a standoff and fired at officers while keeping a hostage in the residence.
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