DESPITE A LARGE AND DIVERSE BODY OF LITERATURE ON FIRE SETTING, RELATIVELY LITTLE IS UNDERSTOOD ABOUT DETERMINANTS OF FIRE SETTING BEHAVIOR AND INTERVENTION STRATEGY. LEGAL DIFFICULTIES IN ACCESSING SAMPLES OF ARSONISTS, THE MANNER OF LEGAL DISPOSITION OF ARSON CASES, AND THE FACT THAT RELATIVELY FEW ARSONISTS ARE APREHENDED MAKES IT LIKELY THAT RESEARCH SAMPLES WILL BE NARROW AND BIASED. LEVIN'S 1976 CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE SETTERS--ARSON-FOR-PROFIT, SOLITARY FIRE SETTERS, AND GROUP FIRE SETTERS--IS USED TO EXAMINE RESEARCH ON ARSONIST TYPES WITH THE ADDITIONAL CATEGORIES OF FEMALE ARSONISTS AND YOUTHFUL ARSONISTS. CURRENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRE SETTERS IS THEN INVESTIGATED UNDER THESE HEADINGS: ANTECEDENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, ORGANISMIC VARIABLES (FIRE SETTING AND SEXUAL PROBLEMS, ENURESIS AND FIRE SETTING, FIRE SETTING AND ASSOCIATED PATTERNS OF DEVIANCE, GENETIC, PHYSIOLOGICAL, AND PHYSICAL ABNORMALITIES, AND INTELLECTUAL AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF FIRE SETTERS), ACTUAL FIRE-SETTING BEHAVIOR, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF FIRE SETTING. PSYCHOANALYTIC EXPLANATIONS OF FIRE SETTING DOMINATE THE LITERATURE, BUT THESE EXPLANATIONS LACK EMPIRICAL SUPPORT. FIRE SETTING, ASSOCIATED ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIORS, SEXUAL, MARITAL, AND OCCUPATIONAL MALADJUSTMENT, AND ALCOHOLISM CAN ALL BE CONSIDERED PARALLEL INDICATORS OF LACK OF SELF-CONTROL, CONFIDENCE, AND SOCIAL SKILLS, AND AVAILABLE DATA APPEAR TO SUPPORT THE PICTURE OF THE TYPICAL ADULT FIRE SETTER AS A PERSON LACKING CONTROL AND SOCIAL SKILLS. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)