‘Pyromania’ suspected after 11 fires erupt in 10 days in Turkey’s Balıkesir

EDREMİT

A total of 11 fires erupted in the same building in 10 days in the Marmara province of Balıkesir. Police have suspected “pyromania” in relation to the incidents, daily Habertürk has reported.

A fire erupted in an electricity meter cabinet of a three-floored apartment in Balıkesir’s Edremit district 10 days ago. While locals of the building were extinguishing the fire, another fire erupted in the same day despite a black out.  

Police detected nine of the fires as suspicious. The other two had erupted as a result of arson attacks.

Police focused their investigation on a 13-year-old boy who was living with his stepfather in the apartment and took him under surveillance. Another fire erupted 24 hours after his release.

The head of the Fire Brigade Department in Edremit, Mustafa Bilgiç, said they found a bottle of cologne, a camp cylinder and a lighter side by side in the suspect’s home. 

Bilgiç also said the suspect had set fire to rugs in his home.

“The boy was known for his psychological problems and was at the scene after his release,” he added.

Psychiatrists have stated pyromania may be at the source of the serial fires.

Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist their impulse to deliberately start a fire, in order to relieve tension or for instant gratification.

Ercan Abay, a psychiatrist, said pyromaniacs repeatedly want to set fires.

“This disorder may be caused by a behavioral disorder or mental deficiency. Emperor Neron is said to have set fire to Rome and watched. The separation of the child’s mother and father may have affected his psychology. This disease can be cured with behavioral therapy,” he said.