District attorney’s quote in the LA Times article this one sources:

Arson to me is a real head-scratcher. I do not understand … somebody who is suspected of arson does something where they get no value out of it

He’s only got half of the equation here. People generally don’t premeditate actions when they expect to lose more than they’ll get out of it. This story is so sad when you realize that this guy got to the point where he concluded prison couldn’t be any worse. I don’t think that just manifests out of thin air overnight after a couple hard days.