Man trying to burn spider with lighter sparked Utah wildfire, police say

[marmar]

(Guardian UK) A Utah man has been arrested on suspicion of starting a wildfire while trying to burn a spider with his lighter.

Cory Martin, 26, told police that he spotted the spider on Monday while he was in a hiking area in the foothills south of Salt Lake City near the city of Springville. He acknowledged starting the fire, but did not explain why he was trying to burn the spider.

Deputies found a jar of marijuana in his belongings, but he did not appear to be high, said Sgt Spencer Cannon of Utah county sheriff’s department.

There is no evidence to suggest Martin intentionally started the blaze, said Cannon, but he called it a reckless and puzzling decision. This area and most of Utah are bone dry amid extreme drought conditions. ..........(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/02/utah-wildfire-police-man-burn-spider-lighter

[CatWoman]

1. little girl: "you call that a spider???"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181691598

[Haggard Celine]

2. He probably did it for the same reason that

some children burn ants with a magnifying glass. He just had the urge to destroy/kill something. There are a lot of 'adults' out there who seem not to have progressed beyond that stage.

[Hortensis]

3. :) Wonder what the correlation would be with those who chortle

gleefully over saying "Democrat" for "Democratic." (Such an insult? ) Always makes me imagine them yelling "poopy head!" and "stupid doo-doo!" as children.

Insightful cluelessness:

“What led him to stop and notice a spider and decide to try to burn it, we don’t know,” Cannon said. “There may not be a why. He might not even know a why.”

[Haggard Celine]

4. Yes, it's sad that we have so many people

in a state of arrested development. A huge number of people have poor mental health in general. Makes me wonder sometimes if this country is going to be able to survive as we have for the last 250 or so years. We need a lot more change, but I think right now that we are at least on the right track.

[Hortensis]

6. Think so too. Doubt we have more now, tho, or more here.

History has many, many shocking stories of dangerously irrational societal events, and I'm guessing failure to achieve full adult brain function has always been common. Also fatal consequences of bad decisions...

I'm hopeful too. We've never been "here" before, but looks like almost enough people have been forced to realize society's on a disastrous track for realization to lead to learning to lead to change that may avoid more millions of deaths. Don't burn spiders when surrounded by explosively flammable material. Don't elect people who promise to hurt others because they'll hurt you too.

The notion of humans as inherently rational beings has been not only trashed in economics, but trashed in all the best research on moral decision-making. ~ Robert Sapolsky

[Karadeniz]

5. What idiot destroys a spider when it's where it's supposed to be? He just wanted to torture it....