Arson

Arson, in the law of the United Kingdom and the United States, the act of willfully and maliciously setting fire to a house, building, or other property. Under common law, arson was the willful and malicious burning of the house of another person and was considered a felony punishable by death. The penalty for arson now consists of differing periods of penal servitude or simple imprisonment. If the act results directly or indirectly in the death of a person, it is treated according to the modern definition of murder. The act of burning one’s own house to defraud an insurer or destroy the property of another on the premises was also a crime, usually a misdemeanor, in common law; in some states of the U.S., however, this act is now defined as a lower degree of arson and consequently is punished less severely. Under the penal statutes of some states, arson in the first degree is setting fire to any building in which a human being is present.