CALCRIM No. 1530

§ 452)

The defendant is charged [in Count] with unlawfully causing a

fire that caused great bodily injury [in violation of Penal Code section

452].

To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must

prove that:

1. The defendant set fire to[,] [or] burned[,] [or caused the burning

of] (a structure/forest land/property);

2. The defendant did so recklessly;

AND

3. The fire caused great bodily injury to another person.

<Alternative A—Recklessness: General Definition>

[A person acts recklessly when (1) he or she is aware that his or her

actions present a substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing a fire, (2)

he or she ignores that risk, and (3) ignoring the risk is a gross deviation

from what a reasonable person would have done in the same situation.]

<Alternative B—Recklessness: V oluntary Intoxication>

[A person acts recklessly when (1) he or she does an act that presents a

substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing a fire but (2) he or she is

unaware of the risk because he or she is voluntarily intoxicated.

Intoxication is voluntary if the defendant willingly used any intoxicating

drink, drug, or other substance knowing that it could produce an

intoxicating effect.]

To set fire to or burn means to damage or destroy with fire either all or

part of something, no matter how small the part.

Great bodily injury means significant or substantial physical injury. It is

an injury that is greater than moderate harm.

[A structure is any (building/bridge/tunnel/power plant/commercial or

public tent).]

[Forest land means brush-covered land, cut-over land, forest, grasslands,

or woods.]

[Property means personal property or land other than forest land.]

[A person does not unlawfully cause a fire if the only thing burned is his

or her own personal property, unless he or she acts with the intent to

defraud, or the fire also injures someone else or someone else’s structure,

forest land, or property.]

[Arson and unlawfully causing a fire require different mental states. For

arson, a person must act willfully and maliciously. For unlawfully

causing a fire, a person must act recklessly.]

New January 2006; Revised September 2020, October 2025