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 Anytime A Child Plays With Fire, The Outcome Can Be Deadly
Juvenile firesetting has been identified as the fastest growing fire threat in the United States. Annual statistics show that more than 300 people are killed and nearly one-billion dollars in property is destroyed by fires set by children.
The Flagler Beach Fire Department helps children and their families through its Juvenile Firesetter Program. The Juvenile Fire Setter Program is designed to identify, educate, refer and evaluate the progress of at-risk youth who are prone to fire setting/arson behavior. Participants will be interviewed to assess the juvenile's firesetting behavior.Once the interview is complete the youth will be sent home with assignments designed to teach and reinforce fire safety. When the assignments have been completed the juvenile will return for additional education on burn prevention.
If you have noticed dangerous firesetting behavior in your child contact us at (386) 517-2010.
The Facts:
- Nearly 85% of the victims of child-set fires are the children themselves.
- Nationally, playing with fire is the leading cause of death in residential fires for young children.
- At home, children often play with fire in the bedroom.
- Older children frequently play with fire outside the home, at the bus stop, or in vacant lots.
- Children are under the false impression that they can control the fires they set.
Many children who set fires lack both parental supervision and fire safety education.
- Juveniles account for more than 50 percent of all arson arrests in the United States.
- Nationally, children who play with fire cause nearly 80,000 structure fires per year which result in approximately 300 deaths and more than 3,500 injuries.
- Juvenile firesetting does an estimated one Billion dollars in damage annually.
- It only takes about two minutes for the flame from a single match to set an entire room on fire, and less than five minutes for that fire to overtake the entire house.
- Fires are the leading cause of death in the home for children under 5 years old.
- The NFPA reports that of all those young children who died in home fires last year, one third set the fires that killed them.
- Children under 12 set almost half of all structural fires.
- According to the Shriners' Burn Institute, burn injuries are a major cause of death for preschoolers, and match play is a leading source of burn injuries. Why do children set fires? Here are some examples:
The Curious Firesetter
• Typically are boys and girls ages 2 – 10.
• They lack understanding of the destructive potential of fire.
• Has ready access to matches and lighters.
• Usually unsupervised.
Troubled or Crisis Firesetter
• Mostly boys of all ages
• Have set two or more fires
• Uses fire to express emotion: anger, sadness, frustration or powerlessness
• May not understand the consequences of a uncontrolled fire
• Most likely will continue to set fires until their needs are met or identified
• Fire is their way to cry for help
Delinquent or Criminal Firesetter
• Usually teens with a history of firesetting, gangs, truancy, antisocial behavior, or drug or alcohol abuse
• Fires are set with the intent to destroy, or acts of vandalism and malicious mischief.
• Targets are typically schools, open fields, dumpsters, or abandoned buildings
Pathological or Emotionally Disturbed Firesetter
• Can be boys and girls
• Fires may be random, ritualized, or with specific intent to destroy property
• Chronic history of school, behavioral, and social emotional problems
• Sets multiple fires
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