A fire-investigator says he still runs into cases of people who light fires in the bush hoping to spark employment.
Ken Ness is teaching a wildfire-origin course in Prince Albert.
A long-time expert on what causes fires, he says there are many motives for setting blazes.
He says there are six main motives for people who set fires.
They are: profit, revenge, excitement, vandalism, crime-concealment and terrorism.
For some people it’s because they’re simply bored and want some excitement, but for others it’s related to the money:
“There’s a saying the blacker the forest the greener the wallet. Unfortunately some people will light fires to create employment or to get some money in their pocket.”
However Ness says fire-investigation techniques have come a long way since the mid-90’s and each year they charge between one-to-four people with arson.
He adds up to the mid-90’s they also use to average 100 arson fires each year.
That number is now down to 20.
He adds one of the last cases he saw involved a man who set fires simply because he was bored.
This week Ness is teaching a fire-investigation class to 27 trainees at the Provincial Fire Centre.