Furthermore, while fire starters may actually be innocuous, Hough's deeds were definitely harmful and fairly costly, at that. The final fire that he willfully started on the day of his arrest, the Colby Fire, consumed 168 acres of wildlife, took $1.3 million for the Forest Service to eventually extinguish, and closed down a state highway for three days. The money required to put out that fire is being paid by taxpayers, many of whom are overworked and underpaid. There is no telling how much inconvenience and turmoil the lack of access to state highway 32 may have caused during that three day period, which could have potentially separated people from their jobs or homes, or severely affected their abilities to access both of those important locations. There can be no doubt that Hough's efforts, which he himself could not explain, whimsical as they may have been, caused a considerable amount of pecuniary damage and destruction in general.

Further evidence that confirms the fact that Hough was no mere fire starter and was, in fact, a full-fledged arsonist can be found in the fact that he was arrested as a serial arsonist on what was initially nine felony counts and had bail set at over two thirds of a million dollars. He was looking to face life in prison if he had not committed suicide. One of his many conflagrations was not confined to mere destruction and damage in California's wildlife areas, but actually caused property damage to someone's home. There is no telling how great of a financial burden such damage was to the owner of the home, if he or she happened to have any sort of homeowners insurance specific to fires, and how much of a burden it may have been to finance the deductible if such insurance did indeed belong to the owner. Lastly, it should be noted that arsonists were responsible for $173 million in direct economic damage between 2000 and 2006, which cost tax payers millions more to extinguish. Hough, in keeping with this sort of company by committing similar actions, definitely had a noxious effect upon the property and finances of the residents of the state of California. Due to this effect, there can be little doubt that he was no mere fire starter, but was a serial arsonist whose capture may have prevented untold amounts of further financial and property damage throughout the state.

The vast majority of cases involving arson are classified as property crimes, for the simple fact that arson is one of the most effective means of destruction known to man and that the damage to property that it may cause is oftentimes considerable (as a casual look at Hough's efforts indicates). Furthermore, formal arson is always a felony, typically due to the amounts of property damage that it incurs. There are lesser offenses for fire-related crimes, such as malicious burning. But arson itself is always a felony and usually considered a crime of property damage.