NAII Auto Arson Demonstration Slated for Nov. 20

Auto arson reportedly forces consumers to pay increased insurance
premiums and strains limited law enforcement resources.

In an effort to heighten awareness of auto arson, the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII), in conjunction with the South Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Companies, is hosting a Vehicle Arson Awareness Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20 at the North Charleston Fire Department Training Center in Charleston, S.C.

Using five donated cars, certified fire investigators at the Auto Arson
Awareness Day will demonstrate how vehicle arsonists use flammable
accelerants, ordinary combustibles, and incendiary devices to torch
vehicles, and ways they try to cover their tracks. Also present will be a demonstration by State Farm’s canine unit of trained arson-sniffing dogs.

“Far from being a ‘victimless crime,’ arson is expensive – in pass-along
costs and frequently in human life,” said John Eager, senior director of
claims for the NAII. “The most recent statistics show that the number of suspicious vehicle fires is on the rise, as is the number of Americans killed each year as the result of arson. By seeing first-hand how arsonists ply their trade, consumers and the media can get a clear idea of how destructive and dangerous this crime really is.”

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, 46,500 vehicle fires of
incendiary or suspicious origin occurred in 2000 (the most recent year for statistics), an increase of 3.3 percent from the year before, causing $186 million in property damage. For the same period, arson killed more than 500 Americans, an increase of 36.5 percent from 1999.

While it comprises only about 20 percent of all arson cases, “mobile
properties” arson – motor vehicles, trailers, etc. – is on the rise. And
while the total number of arson cases has dropped, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Crime in the United States 2001” report, mobile properties arson increased 12.1 percent, with almost 95 percent of these cases involving motor vehicles.

“Incidents of arson, like other crimes, is frequently linked to an economic downturn,” Eager said. “The reasons are many: not only auto thieves trying to destroy evidence, but also financially strapped people trying to get out of costly auto leases, even farmers torching expensive farm equipment in an attempt to collect on their insurance policy.”

Arsonists may even take advantage of natural disasters such as the current California wildfires to set fire to property in the path of the fires or file claims for home contents that didn’t exist, Eager added.

NAII’s Vehicle Arson Awareness Day will be held at the North Charleston Fire Department Training Center, 7270 Cross County Road, North Charleston, S.C. For more information, contact Laura Mazzuca Toops at: laura.toops@naii.org.