- For other articles named "Arsonist", see Arsonist (112 Event) and The Arsonist (112 Objective).
- "dark jacket... bright hair... handsome... God, he looked straight at me..."
The Arsonist is a Call Incident in 112 Operator. This call will not trigger on its own; it will only be triggered by the Arsonist event. This call can spawn up to three separate scenes (including a search area), and requires both police and firefighter response. The call dialogue is completely predictable (no randomized responses from the caller).
The incident involves a woman calling to report that she'd just seen someone pouring a liquid around a wooden building and setting it on fire. The operator can tell her to chase the arsonist and give a description (making the manhunt easier) or try to put out the fire (making resolving the fire easier). Firefighters must then put out the fire, as police question the caller and search the area for the arsonist. The arsonist must then be arrested and taken to prison.
For the best solution to this call, see this guide.
Opening Lines[]
| Speaker | Line | |
|---|---|---|
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Operator | 112, what's your emergency? |
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Caller | Hello?! I'm at <address>! I was just about to start my car... And i saw this man's poured something all over this wooden building and... oh God, he started a fire!
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Trigger Conditions[]
The Arsonist incident is a scripted incident; it cannot spawn unless specifically triggered by an Event.
In both Campaign and Freeplay modes, this incident will only be triggered during the Arsonist event. It always happens on the event's second Duty.
In Campaign mode, the Arsonist event begins on Duty #12, so this incident will always occur on Duty #13 (coincidentally, during a Storm event).
In Freeplay mode, the Arsonist event may only occur when playing at "Junior" or "Middle" difficulties. At "Junior" difficulty, the event may be triggered only between Duties #4 and #12. At "Middle" difficulty, it may be triggered only between Duties #1 and #10. Again, the Arsonist incident itself triggers on the second Duty of the event.
Successfully catching the arsonist during this incident ends the event immediately. However, there is actually a benefit to not catching the arsonist at all. For more on this, read the article about the Arsonist Event.
The Arsonist incident never occurs during any existing Scenario game.
Structure[]
The Arsonist incident is a Call Incident, which begins with a phone conversation with a citizen. The call is completely predictable: it contains no randomized responses from the caller, and the outcome depends entirely on choices made by the operator; the same choices will always lead to the same results.
This incident includes a total of three sites: The Arson Scene, a Search Area, and The Arsonist Scene. All three sites are hidden at first.
- The Arson Scene appears on the map as soon as the caller finishes speaking her opening line.
- The Search Area always appears when the call reaches its natural end - no matter what dialog options have been picked on the way there.
- The Arsonist Scene only appears once the search is successfully completed.
Choices made during the phone conversation can have a serious effect on your Reputation reward for resolving the call, for better or for worse. More importantly, however, you can choose whether to have the caller assist in searching for the arsonist (making the search go much faster) or in putting out the fire (reducing the workload for firefighters). It's important to determine which units you have available, and thus decide which type of assistance will be more useful to you. Both paths, when executed correctly, give the same Reputation reward.
Call Summary[]
The Arsonist incident occurs after firefighters have analyzed a string of recent building fires, and determined that the likely cause was arson. In order to avoid a panic, dispatchers are instructed to pay close attention to reports that could possibly involve arson, in the hope of catching the person responsible.
The incident begins when a woman calls in to report that she had just witnessed a man pouring a suspicious liquid all around a wooden building. As she reports this, the man ignites a fire.
The operator immediately dispatches police and fire units to the site; but must decide whether and how to utilize the caller, who is already at the scene.
Caller Chasing the Arsonist[]
The operator tells the caller that firefighters will take care of the fire itself, and instructs her to chase the arsonist and report what she sees. The woman does her best to keep up with the arsonist, and describes him as a handsome, blond man wearing a dark jacket.
The arsonist spots the caller just as a black van pulls up next to him. He jumps into the van, and it drives off. The operator thanks the caller for her assistance. Police units have a much easier time finding the arsonist's van and arresting him, while firefighters put out the massive fire that he had set.
Caller Fighting the Fire[]
The operator tells the caller to forget about the arsonist and do what she can to help fight the fire before it can begin to spread. He instructs her to look for a fire extinguisher, and she says she has one in her car.
The caller reports that her extinguisher's label says "foam". The operator confirms that this should work on the gasoline fire started by the arsonist. He instructs the caller to aim the extinguisher at the base of the fire. The caller, needing both her hands, says goodbye to the operator before putting down the phone, asking him to wish her luck.
The caller's efforts manage to slow down the fire's spread, making the firefighters' job much easier once they arrive. Meanwhile, police struggle to find the arsonist, but eventually track him down and arrest him.
Caller Sent Away[]
The operator could simply tell the caller that her assistance is not necessary; he advises her to go someplace safe, away from the fire, and wait for police to contact her for her testimony.
This is a far simpler solution, but rewards fewer Reputation points upon completion, and leaves both the search and the fire as difficult as they are by default.
Negative Choices[]
The operator instructs the caller to help prevent the fire from spreading, but suggests she use either a blanket or water to put it out. Since the fire is fueled by gasoline, this only helps delay it very briefly, and puts the caller in grave danger. She is unharmed, but the reward for completing the incident is significantly less.
Alternatively, the operator could instruct the caller to use an extinguisher, but tell her to spread the foam all over the fire from above. This has a much lesser impact on the size and spread of the fire, and also costs a Reputation point due to the bad instruction.
Arson Scene[]
This scene always appears on the map as soon as the caller finishes speaking her opening line. If the phone conversation is manually ended before she can do so, the only way to get the address is to wait about 450 seconds of real-time (on SLOW game speed) for the call to be traced.
The scene contains one firefighter element and one police element.
This scene will always spawn on a road.
Description[]
This scene takes place on a road. The fire is still raging, and spreading by the second. The caller is also still here.
The caller is always a witness and must be questioned by police.
The fire initially requires 100 Work Seconds to put out; but it begins growing from the moment the scene is created, at a rate of +2.5 per real-time seconds (on SLOW game speed). At this rate, it will very quickly reach massive size. A small unit of firefighters - especially if they've run out of water - might struggle to stop its spread.
If the caller is instructed to try and stop the fire from spreading, the fire's properties change depending on what instruction she is given next:
| Instruction | Fire size | Fire growth |
|---|---|---|
| USE A BLANKET | -50 Work Seconds | No change |
| USE WATER | -20 Work Seconds | No change |
| USE FIRE EXTINGUISHER | No change | Reduced by 1.0/sec |
| AIM FOR THE TOP | No change | Reduced by 0.1/sec |
| AIM FOR THE BASE | No change | Reduced by 0.3/sec |
Telling the caller to use a blanket or water decreases the fire's size (a flat decrease in the amount of work required to put it out); but the amounts are very small compared to the growth rate, and the fire will grow right back to the same size within only a few seconds.
Only a fire extinguisher will actually reduce the growth rate of the fire, thus saving more effort in the long run - since the fire keeps growing even while it is being put out, which could take many seconds. Note that just telling the caller to use an extinguisher already reduces the growth rate by a whole 1.0/sec. Correctly telling the caller to aim it at the base reduces the growth rate by another 0.3/sec, which is the best possible outcome.
Resolution[]
This scene must be reached within only 300 seconds of real time (on SLOW game speed) from the moment is spawns on the map, or the scene will fail automatically. This is a very urgent time window, so get your firefighters rolling as soon as possible.
The "base" reputation reward for resolving this scene is +5, but it is increased to +9 simply by continuing the conversation for a few dialog choices. Furthermore, there are multiple dialog options that will further increase or reduce it:
- Telling the caller to go home or do nothing increases the reward by +1.
- Telling the caller to chase the arsonist increases the reward by +3.
- Telling the caller to use a fire extinguisher on the fire, increases the reward by +2.
- If she is then told to use it at the base of the fire, the reward is increased by another +1.
- If she is told to use it at the top of the fire, the reward decreases by -1.
- If she is told that the type of fire extinguisher she has isn't right for this fire, the reward decreases by -2 - effectively negating the bonus for picking the fire extinguisher to begin with.
- Telling the caller to use water or a blanket on the fire reduces the reward by -4.
Since the caller can either chase the arsonist or put out the fire, the best possible reward for this scene is a total of 12 points.
The penalty for ignoring this scene is always -5, subject to multipliers from the current difficulty setting.
Police[]
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Firefighters[]
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Search Area[]
A Search Area and Automatic Search Site appear on the map at the end of the phone conversation, no matter the outcome. They will always be nearby the Arson Scene.
The Search Area is a rectangle, 5 sectors wide on each side - for a total of 25 sectors. One of these sectors (selected at random) contains the hidden incident site you're searching for.
Each sector requires 200 seconds of Search Work to complete - a significant amount. The search can be done by any unit. Once the specific sector containing the hidden incident site is completely searched, the hidden incident site appears and the search is over.
If the caller is asked to chase the arsonist, asking her WHAT IS HE WEARING? decreases the Search Work per sector by -50. Asking her either TYPE OF VEHICLE? or LICENSE PLATE? decreases it by another -50 - effectively halving the amount of time required to find the arsonist.
Still, even with 100 Work Seconds per sector, this is a total of 2,500 Work Seconds if the arsonist happens to be hiding in the very last sector you search; multiple units, airborne units, Police Dogs and specialty equipment are all highly recommended if this work is to be completed before the search timer runs out.
Resolution[]
The search must be completed within 1,000 seconds from the moment it appeared on the map, or it will automatically fail. This also fails the subsequent scene, The Arsonist Scene. While a generous amount of time, the search is quite time-consuming.
There is no reward for completing the search, but the penalty for ignoring the search is -4 Reputation points, subject to multipliers from the current difficulty setting.
Once the search is completed, it reveals the Arsonist Scene, described below.
The Arsonist Scene[]
This scene only appears on the map once the correct Search sector has been completed. It will appear inside that sector. At that point, all other search sectors and Automatic Search Sites will disappear.
The scene contains only a single police element.
Description[]
This scene takes place on a street. The only element here is the arsonist himself - finally caught.
The arsonist must be arrested by police and taken to prison. He will not resist arrest.
Resolution[]
There is no time limit to reach this scene.
There is no reputation reward for resolving this scene, nor a penalty for ignoring it.
However, arresting the arsonist will immediately end the Arsonist event, instead of continuing it on the next Duty with additional chances to catch the arsonist again.
Due to how the Arsonist event is scripted, it may actually be better to ignore this scene once its location is found (don't do it before completing the search, as there is a penalty for ignoring the search itself). This is because the second half of the Arsonist event gives you a cash bonus for catching the arsonist - whereas catching him during this incident gives you nothing. Read more on this in the article on the Arsonist event.
Police[]
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After-Action Report[]
| Condition | Text |
|---|---|
| Opening Lines spoken | A woman reported seeing a man putting a building on fire |
| I'M SENDING HELP | The operator decided to send emergency services to deal with the fire and with an arsonist |
| FIREMEN WILL PUT IT OUT | The operator told a woman to chase the arsonist. Her information was valuable to the police |
| NEVERMIND, CHASE THE ARSONIST! | |
| STAY SAFE | The operator advised a woman to wait for the services |
| OKAY THEN, JUST STAY SAFE | |
| USE A BLANKET | The operator advised a woman to put out a fire, but provided incorrect instructions. Flammable liquid fires should be put out with powder, foam or CO2 fire extinguishers |
| USE WATER | |
| NOT THE RIGHT ONE | |
| AIM FOR THE TOP | The operator advised a woman to put out a fire, but provided partially incorrect instructions |
| Unused | The operator advised a woman to put out a fire and provided correct instructions |