Arson is a crime that involves the willful or malicious burning or charring of property. The FBIs 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. . The definition of arson varies slightly depending on the jurisdiction, but generally, it involves the intentional setting of a fire to a building, where people live. In most states, the act of knowingly burning personal property without consent or with unlawful intent is enough to constitute arson.

Arson is typically classified as a felony, with instances involving a greater degree of risk to human life or property carrying a stricter penalty. The penalties associated with a conviction of arson vary widely depending on the degree of arson. For example, in North Carolina, if the dwelling house burned was occupied at the time of the burning, then the offense is arson in the first degree, which is punishable as a Class D felony. If the dwelling house burned was unoccupied at the time of the burning, then the offense is arson in the second degree, which is punishable as a Class G felony.

It is important to note that only the fires that investigation determined to have been willfully set are included in arson data collection. The number of arsons reported by individual law enforcement agencies is available in Tables 8-11, arson trend data (indicating a year-to-year change) are in Tables 12-15, and arson clearance data (crimes solved) can be found in Arson Table 2 and Tables 25-28.