THE CONFERENCE BROUGHT TOGETHER APPROXIMATELY 30 BEHAVIORAL SCIENTISTS, FIRE CHIEFS, ARSON INVESTIGATORS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, WHO EXPLORED THE STATUS OF THE ARSON PROBLEM AND CONSIDERED FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN AMELIORATING THE PROBLEM. THE PARTICIPANTS REACHED AGREEMENTS ON SEVERAL POINTS REGARDING DATA (LACK OF UNIFORM TERMINOLOGY, UNCOORDINATED COLLECTION, LIMITED COLLATION AND INTERPRETATION, UNSTRUCTURED DISSEMINATION), TRAINING (LACK OF DOCUMENTATION OF TRAINING NEEDS, SPOTTY FUNDING FOR TRAINING PROGRAMS), STAFFING (NEED FOR ARSON INVESTIGATORS AT ALL LEVELS, POOR DEFINITION OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ARSON INVESTIGATORS AND OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL, EXISTENCE OF A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INCIDENCE OF ARSON AND THE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES DEVOTED TO ARSON INVESTIGATION), AND RESEARCH (NEED FOR ARSON-RELATED BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND FOR SYSTEMS ANALYSES RELATING LOSS, SUPPRESSION, AND INVESTIGATION COSTS AND OTHER FACTORS IN THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF ARSON). HOWEVER, THE PARTICIPANTS DISAGREED ON OTHER MATTERS: RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONDUCTING ARSON INVESTIGATIONS OUTSIDE MAJOR CITIES, POLICE-FIRE DEPARTMENT BOUNDARIES IN DEALING WITH INCENDIARISM, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL ILLNESS AND INCENDIARISM, AND THE OVERALL ACTION PROGRAM REQUIRED TO COMBAT ARSON. THE COMMITTEE ON FIRE RESEARCH DECIDED THAT THESE MATTERS SHOULD BE EXPLORED FURTHER IN A SYMPOSIUM. A LIST OF CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS IS INCLUDED. (LKM)