EDMONTON, Canada — In light of volunteer firefighter Lawson Schalm facing charges of 18 counts of arson, the persisting problem of firefighter arson has garnered international attention.

Arson expert Edward Nordskog said that firefighter arson is difficult to track because authorities don’t differentiate firefighters from other arsonists when keeping records. Sometimes, he said, documents are not kept at all.

Firefighter arson, Nordskog said, is not a new trend and has been a long-standing issue.

“There’s roughly 100 firefighter arsonists convicted every year in North America and all of them are serial arsonists, which means three or more fires,” Nordskog told CBC.

According to Nordskog, firefighter arsonists tend to be young males who recently joined the fire service, who may become bored, desire recognition and struggle with anger or frustration.

“They are the heroes, looking for recognition … some are bored, seeking excitement. A lot of arsonists, their motive is sometimes based on a lot of anger and frustration … or need to get rid of stress,” he said.

Some firefighter arsonists feel the need to “live up to the war stories of their parents or uncles, who may have been on the fire service in the past,” said Nordskog.

Advances in fire safety, prevention and construction materials have significantly reduced the number of fires in North America, which may explain why some firefighter arsonists become bored.

“It’s not uncommon for a firefighter to not see a fire for months at a time, and boredom sets in,” Nordskog said