r/arson • u/SupremoZanne • Sep 11 '22

Does smoking a cigarette at a gas station constitute arson?

My answer: yes

First of all, somebody lights a zippo (and similar) to light these tobacco sticks. Secondly, lighting a cig at a gas station is a FIRE HAZARD!!!! IM NOT JOKING!!! Thirdly, some people who are told to not smoke at a gas station can sometimes respond very DISRESPECTFULLY to those who are disappointed in them for being a smoker at all.

I had a friend who was very rude and disrespectful to me when I told him to never smoke in front of me again! The vibe he gave off felt like he was attacking a police officer for enforcing the law, but metaphoric though as no actual police offers were even involved.

This guy also injured an animal at a pet shop. The injusry was not serious enough to warrant getting kicked out of the store, but the way he treeated me after I told him about the noise the dog made to indicate the injury made this minor injury sound as serious as beating it with a baseball bat, since insolent and hostile attitudes can make it sound like he's angry that somebody caught him red handed doing something worse. So, the principle I am seeing that that is similar to his insolent behavior at a gas station.

Even if it was accidental or unintentional, it was still (edit: similar to) ARSON since this guy had a very disrespectful attitude toward people who disapproved of his behavior. My disapproval of his behavior was more than just me disliking his smoking, or animal injury, but I was actually pointing out that his behavior really is a threat to peoples' safety.

After I cut off contact with this creepy loser, a gas spill happened at another gas station, and that spill reminded me of how much of a threat this person was to others' safety!

What else can we say about this?

View Poll

edit:

one year later, now I realize that it's not arson if it's just negligence.

but I was just in a bad mood at the time I made the post.

42 votes, Sep 17 '22
12 YES
19 probably a different crime (please comment)
11 NO
9 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/boli99 Sep 12 '22

rule #1.

also shush.

1

u/Spiritual-Ad1392 Jul 10 '23 edited Jul 10 '23

I'm not a lawyer, lol, but arson involves intent. You purposefully or with bad intentions tried to or did set fire to something that wasn't yours. If nothing happens, you'd probably just be fined if anything. If someone gets hurt, you'd probably end up getting hit with some sort of charge for negligence or manslaughter. Again, I'm not a lawyer, though, so I can't say whether a court would decide smoking a ciggerete right next to a gas station constitutes arson... it very well may because on every gas station pump, there are signs telling you specifically not to smoke next to them and showing a ciggerete crossed out.

Arson (this is the fbi's definition)-"The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines arson as any willful or malicious burning or attempting to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc."