Wildland Arson Essay

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Recommended: Impact of wildfires

Introduction: why is state-corporate forest arson a crime worthy of study?

Wildland arson creates damages to structures, ecosystems and forests and affects the health and safety of people living in rural and wildland urban interface areas. To name some examples relevant to this study, the large number of bushfires each year cost the Australian community dearly. Bushfires are the leading cause of death and injuries from natural disasters in Australia: National statistics proves that at least half of these fires are ignited due to arson (Beale & Jones, 2010, p.507). The financial loss of massive wildfires such as the ´Black Saturday` bushfire (caused by an ageing power line, belonging to the Australian company SP AusNet) sum up to $500 million (ABC, 2014). In Spain, the Ministry of Agriculture (MAGRAMA, 2012) calculates that deliberate forest arson attacks cost the Spanish state more than 1000 million euros per year. A simple vegetation fire can transform into its most savage manifestation, a wildfire, when left unrestrained. Unlike other natural hazards such as earthquakes and hurricanes, wildfires are one of the most predictable. Around 95% of all forest fires around the world are provoked by human activities …show more content…

Yet, the current economic crisis is forcing Spain to adopt austerity measures, putting at stake the firefighting protection budget. For instance, budget reduction limited the number of firefighters during the summer of 2012, fueling the worst wildfires that this nation has suffered in a decade (Greenpeace, 2012; Ministerio de Agricultura y Medio Ambiente [MAGRAMA], 2012). The same can be said about Australia, where budget cuts in its Fire Service have hurt the country´s fire-fighting capability (Clenell, 2013; Scherl,

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