Ronald Bartel

Ronald Bartel is a minor villain that appears in the 1991 film Backdraft. He is a crazed and deadly arsonist who is obsessed with fire and watching things burn. He is portrayed by veteran actor Donald Sutherland. Although he doesn't commit any violent acts onscreen, it revealed that he has already deliberatly murdered an unknown number of people, including children and eldery women. He is very quiet, creepy and manipulative and can easily be compared to the likes of Hannibal Lecter.

Parole
He is imprisoned in the film and his chances of parole are always thwarted by arson detective Donald "Shadow" Rimgale. RImgale drops a burned doll on the table in front of him at his parole hearings asking "What did do to that little girl?" To which he coldly replies " I burned her...". This comes after Bartel lied to the parole board that he was "ready for society". When asked what he would like to do with the world he replies "Burn it all!" indicating that he is a true anarchist.

Who doesn't love fire?
Later, he is visited by firefighter Brian Mcaffery who seeks his knowledge of fire to obtain information on an arsonist he is trying to stop. Bartel shows him an old copy of a Time Life magazine which has Mcaffery's picture, as a child, on the cover. Bartel has already deduced who is arsonist is and begins to taunt Mcaffery. Bartel refuses to reveal the information until Mcaffery explains who is on the cover of the magazine and if the fire that his father died in "looked at him". Mcaffery indicates yes which amazes Bartel, who then begins to explain the clues to the arsonist's identity: The arsonist hates fire but uses it and is around the chemical, Trictachloride for long periods of time. Brian realizes to his horror who the arsonist might be. Bartel leaves off by saying "That wasn't such a long walk after all?"