Incendiary Attacks

Scumbags of a certain breed have a thing for lighting people on fire.  The infamous incident on the New York City Subway was an example of this, when a man set a woman ablaze in an entirely unprovoked attack.  There was also a similar incident in Chicago, once again on mass transit, in which a man threw flammable liquid on a woman and set her on fire with a lighter following an argument.  The incident from this past summer, in which a Pro-Palestine extremist threw Molotov cocktails at a procession of Jewish people also comes to mind.

So, what’s the deal with setting people on fire?  Obviously, it will be a tactic used by the extremely mentally deranged, or by those who want to inflict terror.  Either way, there are, unfortunately, a growing number of such threats who have adopted this attack strategy.  As the prepared citizen, what considerations are warranted? 

First of all, understand that being set on fire is, absolutely, a deadly attack that justifies a deadly force response.  Facing someone with a lit Molotov cocktail, or a lighter after you have been dowsed with a flammable, is the same as facing a knife, gun, or impact weapon.  You don’t have to wait to be set ablaze before responding to defend yourself or another innocent party if the aggressor has made their intentions clear. 

Should you find yourself confronted with an individual who sprays or throws some kind of liquid on you, the first thing you should do as immediate response is to make distance as quickly as possible.  Burst away from the individual with all possible speed because you want to be out of range of a lighter or thrown match.  If the aggressor lights something and approaches, you are, certainly, justified to use force to stop such an attack.  Similarly, if you are in your vehicle, or in your home, and someone dowses it with liquid, then lights a match, that is a deadly threat. 

Concerning mitigation measures after someone is set on fire, it is unlikely and not feasible to be carrying a fire extinguisher on person, but if you do use public transit, having one of the smaller extinguisher cans in your backpack or laptop bag may make sense.  Keeping a fire extinguisher in your car, however, makes perfect sense, for a variety of reasons, to which we can add the possibility of someone being set on fire, intentionally. 

Further, in the home you should have multiple fire extinguishers of considerable size, and have at least one on every level of the home.  Keeping a fire extinguisher in the kitchen is common place, but I also recommend keeping a large extinguisher somewhere close to the home entrance.  Dealing with an intentionally set blaze within, or right outside, of the home is a possibility that you should be prepared for. 

There are monsters who walk among us, and there is no bottom to the depths of their depravity.