International 137 Die in Chilean Fires Set By Wannabe Heroes and Those Wanting Overtime

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Police in Chile have arrested a former firefighter on suspicion of contributing to a deadly forest fire which killed 137 people in February.
The suspect worked for Chile's National Service for Disaster Prevention and served as a volunteer firefighter at the time that several fires spread through the Valparaíso region.
Officials have accused the 39-year-old man of being responsible for at least one of the four blazes which broke out almost simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar on 2 February.
Police said the suspect had set the blaze because "he likes to be a hero, participating and helping in emergencies".
Local media reported that the man had been hailed as a "hero" after he had successfully contained a previous blaze in his local area.
He had been disciplined by the fire service for rushing to that fire without waiting for official orders, but his local community praised him for what they said was his fast action.
He is the third person to be arrested in connection with the devastating blaze which broke out in February.
The two others, another firefighter and a park ranger, have been in custody since May.
Prosecutors suspect the three men of having hatched the plan together.
The firefighter detained in May said he and the park ranger had agreed that it would be financially beneficial to them if they could do overtime fighting fires.
The 22-year-old described lighting cigarettes with matches and throwing them from his car.
The blaze started in the Lago Peñuelas national park.
The flames were fanned by high winds and the vegetation, dried out by extreme temperatures at the time, quickly caught fire.
They spread to the hills surrounding Viña del Mar and the towns of Quilpué and Villa Alemana, destroying thousands of homes.
The coastal area is popular with holidaymakers and was packed with people trying to escape the heatwave.
In total 137 people died because of the fires, while 16,000 suffered financial losses and more than 2,000 homes were destroyed.
Officials had said from the start that they suspected the fire had been deliberately set.

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Well holy shit, this might be one of the dumbest plans in the history of everything.

<{blankeye}>

This is gonna take some topping, you guys better come up with something quick!
 

Police in Chile have arrested a former firefighter on suspicion of contributing to a deadly forest fire which killed 137 people in February.
The suspect worked for Chile's National Service for Disaster Prevention and served as a volunteer firefighter at the time that several fires spread through the Valparaíso region.
Officials have accused the 39-year-old man of being responsible for at least one of the four blazes which broke out almost simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar on 2 February.
Police said the suspect had set the blaze because "he likes to be a hero, participating and helping in emergencies".
Local media reported that the man had been hailed as a "hero" after he had successfully contained a previous blaze in his local area.
He had been disciplined by the fire service for rushing to that fire without waiting for official orders, but his local community praised him for what they said was his fast action.
He is the third person to be arrested in connection with the devastating blaze which broke out in February.
The two others, another firefighter and a park ranger, have been in custody since May.
Prosecutors suspect the three men of having hatched the plan together.
The firefighter detained in May said he and the park ranger had agreed that it would be financially beneficial to them if they could do overtime fighting fires.
The 22-year-old described lighting cigarettes with matches and throwing them from his car.
The blaze started in the Lago Peñuelas national park.
The flames were fanned by high winds and the vegetation, dried out by extreme temperatures at the time, quickly caught fire.
They spread to the hills surrounding Viña del Mar and the towns of Quilpué and Villa Alemana, destroying thousands of homes.
The coastal area is popular with holidaymakers and was packed with people trying to escape the heatwave.
In total 137 people died because of the fires, while 16,000 suffered financial losses and more than 2,000 homes were destroyed.
Officials had said from the start that they suspected the fire had been deliberately set.

--

7aba3f90-6f5e-11ef-9274-898a88078355.jpg.webp


Well holy shit, this might be one of the dumbest plans in the history of everything.

<{blankeye}>

This is gonna take some topping, you guys better come up with something quick!
Sadly, it's not the first case of arson by firefighters. But it does sound like the most heinous.
 
Sadly, it's not the first case of arson by firefighters. But it does sound like the most heinous.
I was thinking about making an 'ironic crimes' megathread. Many such cases:

firemen committing arson
policemen committing various crimes
nurses and doctors murdering people
etc.

Edit: There was that zoologist who was raping and torturing dogs to death in Australia as well. Adam Britton
 
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I suspect a lot of them are started by NGO agents, 'Climate Extinction' and the like.
- They are. Several ar started by people "protesting" the climate change!
In the end they're just fanatical for a political spectrum.

There's should be a bigger and more severe punishment for people that start fires!
 
- They are. Several ar started by people "protesting" the climate change!
In the end they're just fanatical for a political spectrum.

There's should be a bigger and more severe punishment for people that start fires!
The death penalty for Arson in a Royal Dockyard was only removed as a punishment in England, Wales and I think Northern Ireland in 1971. It was death without benefit of clergy until 1967.

Formerly various kinds of attacks on important items of infrastructure incurred an automatic death penalty. Some:

Arson in Army or Navy bases
Arson in a mill or mine
Breaking looms
Cutting down hops
Wrecking roads
 
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Sad to see. I can remember when visiting relatives in the western US, them telling me fires sometimes were started by firefighters looking for work. Don't know the details on that, but it likely happened in the US at some point.
 
Sad to see. I can remember when visiting relatives in the western US, them telling me fires sometimes were started by firefighters looking for work. Don't know the details on that, but it likely happened in the US at some point.
As I commented above, this kind of thing is a significant phenomenon. In the British military if you apply to become a fireman they give you psychological tests to check you're not obsessed with fire. Probably a lot of fire brigades do that. The worst serial arsonist in US history, John Leonard Orr, was not only a fireman but an arson investigator. There was also a group of policemen and firemen who started about 200 fires in Boston and its environs in the early 80s.
 
As I commented above, this kind of thing is a significant phenomenon. In the British military if you apply to become a fireman they give you psychological tests to check you're not obsessed with fire. Probably a lot of fire brigades do that. The worst serial arsonist in US history, John Leonard Orr, was not only a fireman but an arson investigator. There was also a group of policemen and firemen who started about 200 fires in Boston and its environs in the early 80s.
- I remember a firefighter even died in the fire he started.
Maybe California. Was two or three years ago.
 
like homicides, most supects are close to the victim. A lot these people commiting fire crimes are close to the profession
 
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Those damn Chiles are way too hot. Burned the fuck out of my mouth, no wonder.
 
Sad to see. I can remember when visiting relatives in the western US, them telling me fires sometimes were started by firefighters looking for work. Don't know the details on that, but it likely happened in the US at some point.
There are controlled burns to keep the lush at bay. Can’t just let stuff grow out of control then claim global warming when lightning strikes and takes down an entire city.
 
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