We were thrilled to read about the rail sabotage during the last week of action, and the proposal for it's proliferation. We also appreciated that operational details were made explicit, though we have some concerns we want to bring up about how what is described may leave traces.
When starting a fire, the goal should be that everything that you must touch will burn, if possible. Here is a simple recipe that can enable that:
– a plastic (PET) bottle that is square – this allows the bottle to be placed on it's side without rolling. Bottle size can be determined by the size of the signal box.
– gasoline in the bottle, with enough air space left for fumes, so as to avoid leakage. Motor oil can be added to help prolong the burn, which is helpful for the cabling within a signal box.
– an individually packaged fire cube as the igniter
The accelerant bottle is placed on its side. The fire cube is then placed on top of the bottle. The fire cube is then lit with a storm lighter, being careful to not pierce the bottle by mistake. Once alight, the fire cube will pierce the plastic bottle and gravity will drop it into the accelerant. Mischief managed.
With this simple recipe, there is no delay that introduces a risk of failure. Everything that you interacted with (the bottle, the fire cube) is basically guaranteed to burn – even after taking the appropriate measures to minimize DNA traces during building and transporting the device, this should still be a goal. The bottle and the cube can even be transported by separate individuals, so that the bottle is never legally an "incendiary device", simply the improper storage of accelerant.
Some notes on lock cutting: it is possible to cut a lock with a fresh pair of bolt cutters without ever touching the signal box door. Be aware that if the same pair of bolt cutters is used multiple times, each cut can then be tied back to that specific pair of bolt cutters. Additionally, DNA may accumulate on the section of the bolt cutters interacting with the door, which could transfer it. If the lock must be handled to remove it, it can then be taken away from the scene of the action to be securely discarded. To avoid needing to interact with the door directly, a branch can be used to open it, then also taken away to be discarded.
Here are the concerns we have about the approach that is described in the claim:
– Dried pine and trash is not a reliable accelerant, so it is possible that it will not burn completely. This means that something which was handled won't burn.
– A road flare is not a suitable igniter for the same reason, unless we are talking about kicking off a tire fire, when the tires have been previously soaked in accelerant. The part of the flare which is handled is not guaranteed to burn, especially in the absence of accelerant. For the same reason, a road flare not reliable for cars – it's a toss of the dice whether the interior will catch or the flare will burn out and be recovered.
– Fireworks are not a suitable incendiary device – there are almost certainly parts of the firework which will not burn. Tape should also be avoided.
– Do not shut the signal box door. The fire needs oxygen, or will otherwise extinguish.
– Jumper cables are inevitably recovered. For this reason, we think that if people use this tactic, it should not be claimed alongside arson. Multiple tests have shown that jumper cables are not effective, at least in our region – a train still passed on the tracks up to an hour later, even if the lighting system was visibly triggered by the cable.
No trace, no case.
<3 <3