Many people set fire to something when they were kids to see what would happen. Most of the time, nothing further came of it, bar perhaps a telling off if their parents ever found out.
As an adult, setting fire to something will typically be taken much more seriously and may result in criminal charges.
Different categories of arson
Michigan breaks arson into several categories, with most of them being felony charges. The severity of the charge you face and the penalties you will face if convicted depend on the details of the event and the motives the court believes you had.
The lowest charges will generally come into play if you did not intend to cause any harm and did not actually do much harm. For example, if you were burning branches after pruning the trees on your land, but the wind came and took the fire out of your control and onto a neighbor’s property. At the end of the day, it was an accident, no one got hurt and the only thing that was damaged was their wooden shed.
At the other end of the scale, the most serious charges can be used if someone dies or is injured as a result of the fire. Or if a lot of property was damaged, especially residential property. Another thing that can cause a court to consider a higher level of charge is if they believe you set out to do some kind of harm — even more so if they believe your actions were racially motivated or have similar aggravating factors.
Never underestimate arson charges. The prosecution may well push for higher-level charges to try and bully you into accepting a plea deal on a lower set of charges. Learning more about your defense options will be crucial in a situation like this.