Increased education heightens public awareness by focusing attention and resources on front line agencies, but by itself does not serve to seek out and prevent the actions of suspected arsonists. Deterrence through successful prosecution and punishment and removing the offenders from the community will prevent arson only if uniformity and consistency are achieved. Identifying repeat offenders will help stop repeat offenses, but depends on an initial successful prosecution. Early warning systems and arson task forces identify targets and potential suspects, but require considerable resources to function properly. Both the interdependence and the limitations of all these approaches should be recognized. Statistics on the incidence and costs of arson in the United States between 1978 and 1982 and 13 references are supplied.