The Reno Fire Department's arson prosecution rate is around 20% for the past three years. The national average is 3%, but fire investigators say there are things that you can do to prevent arson.
"Keep vegetation low so they cant hide behind the vegetation, keep trash mattresses so they can't hide behind the house. and opportunity, typically an arsonist like shrubs, juniper shrubs," says Tray Palmer, Reno Fire Department fire marshal.
Other tips include to clean around your house and garage, keep doors and windows locked, install lights, covering all sides of the house, install fire alarm systems or surveillance cameras, keep combustibles and flammable plants at least five feet from your home's exterior walls and secure abandoned and vacant homes.
"There are motives for arson, they range from crime, to vanity, excitement to vandalism and fraud even too," says Palmer.
Another tool firefighters have now is the nose of Boston, a K9 trained to sniff out accelerants.
Reno firefighters say they have 50 fires a year that they know are arson, out of those fires, they usually arrest 10 to 12 people a year for arson.
