Mais pourquoi?

Today I watched a forest fire, fanned into a frenzy by the mistral, destroy a huge swathe of beautiful woodland, rekindling itself after being subdued by planeloads of sea water and some brave firefighters. (Photo tomorrow, perhaps. BBC report here). The staggering thing is, most of the summer fires that plague the South of France are said to be started deliberately, at least some of the culprits being ex-volunteer firefighters. You can ponder the possible motivations for yourself, but I think we can agree it's an unpleasant habit.