The present invention generally directed to arc detection circuits or systems that help prevent fire damage to solid state (LED) based light sources by providing an arc detection system that can be used to detect acing in LED based light fixtures. Once the arcing is detected, power can be quickly turned off to the lighting system. One arc detection circuit according to the present invention comprises a high pass filter circuit arranged to accept an electrical signal with an arc current component having one or more arcing events and a direct current (DC) component, wherein the high pass filter passes only the arc current component. An arc detection circuit is included that accepts the arc current component and filters out arcing events below a threshold. Wherein the arc detection circuit provides an arcing signal with arcing events above said threshold. A microcontroller is also included that accepts the arcing signal to generate control signals based on the arcing signal. In some embodiment, the control signals can be used to control a power supply.