Other mistake: When the firefighter is fighting with the arsonist, the gas line is disconnected from the fireplace. Just before the dramatic explosion, the gas line ignites. This is incorrect because the fire would have started from the outlet to the gas (from ignition source to fuel source).
Backdraft (1991)
Plot summary
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, William Baldwin
Someone is starting fires that result in a backdraft that is devestating to the victims as well as dangerous and deadly to the firefighters fighting the fires.
As the plot unfolds it becomes more apparent that it is a firefighter who is starting them.
Two brothers, both the sons of a fireman who died a hero while in service, one an investigator investigating the fires, the other and outspoken and well respected fireman must face up as it becomes more obvious that it is the older brother, the firefighter who could be responsible...
But is it?
More mistakes in Backdraft
Ronald Bartel: The funny thing about firemen is... Night and day they are always firemen.
Question: The guy who took the picture of Brian as a kid - was he an opportunist who sold the photo to the magazine? I have a hard time imagining they would be prescient enough to know to send one of their own photographers to the scene of the fire.
Answer: Local photographer could have been monitoring emergency calls. A fire is a big visual, and the photo sold to a wire service or Life directly.