Arson is considered a felony crime because when arson is committed it has the potential to kill or injure someone or some people.
The sentence for 2nd degree arson can range from 2 years in prison to as long as 15 year to 30 years in prison depending on the persons criminal history.
If you commit arson and kill someone even without knowing someone or some people were in the building then you can get a murder charge and be sentenced to life in prison.
The difference between 1st degree arson and 2nd degree arson is that the 1st degree arson is when someone willingly burns a building or home down with the knowledge that someone or some people are in the building or house.
The persons intent would be to kill the person in the 1st degree arson case.
The 2nd degree arson is less serious and means that the person committing the arson set fire to a building or home to just cause damage and not knowing if someone or some people were in the building or not.
Third degree arson is when someone just sets fire to property without damaging a building or home with no one else present.
The sentence for arson ranges from 6 months in jail to a year in jail.
And in some cases the sentence for arson can go up to 5 to 6 years in prison and in more severe cases of arson you can be sentenced to 15 years or even more for arson.
The actual sentence for arson is determined on the damage caused if any and whether or not you have a prior criminal history.
If you have no criminal history and it's your first offense without doing any damage then you might get off with 1 year in jail or 6 months in jail or may even just get a fine.
Arson is not always a Violent Crime although in most places Arson is considered to be a Felony and can get you 1 year in prison and up to 10 to 15 years in prison.
If it's your first offense with Arson then you may get off with no jail time and possibly a fine if you did no actual damage or didn't cause any injury or death.
But if you caused damage to a building, injured someone etc then you could get up to 6 years in prison and even 15 years.
There can also be accidental Arson such as you playing with fire and then setting something on fire but not reporting it.
In those cases you may only get a fine and no jail time.
But Arson is being taken seriously now so you should avoid it at all costs.