The first week of May is Arson Awareness Week.
“Arson is one of those things that people think doesn’t happen a lot but it actually does. It’s the fifth most common cause of fires for house fires and third for non house fires,” said John Holland, the Public Information Officer for the Oshkosh Fire Department.
He said there are approximately 25,000 arson fires every year in the United States.
“You’re not going to get away with it,” said Holland. “Most people think everything burns up in a fire. It does not. We have two trained fire investigators here in Oshkosh.”
The Wisconsin Department of Justice provides resources to Local Fire Departments in the cases of suspected arson.
“The department of justice does have an accelerant sniffing dog,” said Holland.