MPC § 220.1: Arson and Related Offenses
What does Arson and Related Offenses (Model Penal Code) provide?
Section 220.1 defines arson and related offenses. A person is guilty of arson, a felony of the second degree, if they start a fire or cause an explosion with the purpose of destroying a building or occupied structure of another, or destroying or damaging any property, whether their own or another's, to collect insurance for such loss. The section also includes reckless burning or exploding: a person is guilty of a felony of the third degree if they purposely start a fire or cause an explosion and thereby recklessly place another person in danger of death or bodily injury, or place a building or occupied structure of another in danger of damage or destruction.
Source: Model Penal Code § 220.1
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Summary
Section 220.1 defines arson and related offenses. A person is guilty of arson, a felony of the second degree, if they start a fire or cause an explosion with the purpose of destroying a building or occupied structure of another, or destroying or damaging any property, whether their own or another's, to collect insurance for such loss. The section also includes reckless burning or exploding: a person is guilty of a felony of the third degree if they purposely start a fire or cause an explosion and thereby recklessly place another person in danger of death or bodily injury, or place a building or occupied structure of another in danger of damage or destruction.
The MPC's approach to arson differs from common law in important ways. It expands the scope beyond burning to include explosions. It eliminates the common law requirement that the building be a dwelling house — any building or occupied structure qualifies. It includes insurance fraud arson (burning your own property to collect insurance) as a form of arson proper, not just as a separate fraud offense. And it creates a lesser offense of reckless burning that captures dangerous fire-setting conduct that may not be purposeful arson.
Section 220.1(3) addresses failure to control or report a dangerous fire. A person who knows that a fire is endangering life or a substantial amount of property and fails to take reasonable measures to put out or control the fire, or to give a prompt fire alarm, commits a misdemeanor if they know they have an official, contractual, or other legal duty to prevent or fight the fire, or if the fire was started by them or with their assent, or on their property or in a building in their custody.
Key Provisions
5 essential provisions of § 220.1
Arson (second-degree felony): purposely starting a fire or causing an explosion to destroy a building/occupied structure of another, or to collect insurance on any property
Reckless burning (third-degree felony): purposely starting a fire or causing explosion that recklessly endangers people or others' property
Includes explosions, not just fires
Insurance fraud arson is covered even when the property is the defendant's own
Failure to control or report a dangerous fire is a misdemeanor when the actor has a duty or started the fire
MPC vs. Common Law
How the MPC approach to arson and related offenses differs from common law
Common law arson was defined as the malicious burning of the dwelling house of another. This was extremely narrow: it required actual burning (not just scorching or smoking), of a dwelling house (not other buildings), of another person (not your own property), and with malice. The MPC dramatically expands this definition. It covers any building or occupied structure, not just dwellings. It includes burning your own property for insurance. It encompasses explosions as well as fires. It replaces the vague "malice" requirement with purpose (for arson) or purpose-plus-recklessness (for reckless burning). The common law developed various degrees of arson in many jurisdictions to address the gap between the narrow common law definition and the broader range of dangerous fire-setting conduct; the MPC's tiered approach (arson vs. reckless burning vs. failure to report) accomplishes this more systematically.
Exam Relevance
How § 220.1 appears on criminal law exams
Arson appears on exams both as a standalone offense and in connection with felony murder analysis. For the standalone offense, students should analyze whether the defendant acted with purpose to destroy (arson) or merely recklessly endangered (reckless burning). For felony murder, arson is one of the MPC's enumerated felonies that triggers the rebuttable presumption of extreme indifference under Section 210.2 — so if a death occurs during arson, the murder analysis requires discussing whether the presumption of extreme recklessness is rebutted. Students should contrast the MPC's requirements with common law arson (dwelling of another, actual burning, malice) and note how the expanded MPC definition affects the scope of both the arson offense and felony murder liability.
Related Sections
Sections frequently studied alongside § 220.1