>>10612986 (lb)
Setting fires is the abyss. There is no justification or rationalization for setting fires in conditions as dry as they are.
If one's belief system has been massaged to the degree that it can justify the protests and riots as legitimate political activism, condoning setting fire to large swaths of woodlands that kill people indiscriminately is the step too far.
I think it's pure cognitive dissonance in play. The only face-saving option is to deny fires are being set, otherwise one must come to grips with the realization that they were being purposely fooled by evil forces.
This is the critical moment, the tipping point. If it can be proved the fires are a planned response by DS the whole works will come crashing down.