Fontainebleau: Who are the real pyromaniacs among the arsonists?

An 18-year-old volunteer firefighter has been charged following the fire that destroyed more than 2,000 hectares of the Fontainebleau forest. Psychiatrist Laurent Layet, an expert with the Court of Cassation, points out that arsonists represent only a tiny fraction of those who commit arson.

He initially admitted to "setting fire to twigs with a lighter and gasoline," before recanting his confession. This 18-year-old volunteer firefighter, formally charged and detained on July 15, is suspected of starting the fire that ravaged the Fontainebleau forest, a UNESCO biosphere reserve located 60 kilometers southeast of Paris. The case raises a recurring question: what is an arsonist, and how can they be distinguished from an ordinary firefighter?

For Laurent Layet, a psychiatrist and expert witness for the Court of Cassation, the confusion is frequent, but the statistical reality is clear. "Pyromaniacs represent only a small subcategory" of arsonists, "around 3 to 5%," he specifies. In other words, 95% of people who deliberately set fires act for religious, political, revenge, or financial reasons. The pyromaniac, however, is not driven by any of these motives: their sole motivation is a fascination with flames.

This profile presents recurring traits. It most often involves young men, marked by an impulsivity characteristic of impulse control disorder, an impulsivity that tends to lessen with age. These individuals are frequently socially and emotionally isolated, without necessarily being marginalized from society. Their social circle does not provide them with sufficient resources to cope with the difficulties of daily life.

The case of the arsonist firefighter is intriguing, but Layet explains it by a logic of attraction: "If you are an arsonist, you will tend to be interested in professions that deal with and are more or less close to fire." Some even go so far as to participate in rescue operations after starting the fire, finding a form of recognition in it.

The question of criminal responsibility is central. The psychiatrist insists: having a mental disorder does not automatically mean having impaired or absent judgment. "An arsonist, at the moment he starts a fire, is still aware that he is transgressing a prohibition," he emphasizes. Among the cases he examined, "the vast majority had neither impaired nor absent judgment," and their full criminal responsibility had been established. Regret expressed after an arrest, he adds, is often "utilitarian" rather than a sign of genuine remorse.