State fire marshal's office offers help dealing with juvenile fire-setters

[JUNE 8, 2006]  SPRINGFIELD -- While some children are naturally curious about fire simply because they don't understand it, for others playing with fire can signal a serious problem. Because fire departments in Illinois communities both big and small often deal with fires started by juveniles, the Office of the State Fire Marshal hosted a workshop Tuesday to help fire department personnel improve their skills in dealing with these children and their families.

"Each year, juveniles are responsible for setting many fires in Illinois that result in property damage, injuries and sometimes even deaths," said Dave Foreman, state fire marshal. "It's critical that fire departments have people who know how to interview juveniles and their families and get them the help they need to prevent this destructive behavior. We are very pleased to work with the National Association of State Fire Marshals to provide this workshop."

Thirty fire services personnel from around the state attended the one-day workshop in Springfield on Tuesday to improve their knowledge and skills related to assessment, information gathering and fire safety education. The National Association of State Fire Marshals sponsored the workshop, so there was no cost to the state or participants.

"We've learned a tremendous amount about juvenile fire-setting, during the past 20 years, that has helped us develop ways to identify the problem, work with the kids and parents to get them the help they need, and ultimately prevent future fires," said Robert W. Crandall, a former Rochester, N.Y., firefighter and vice-president of Fireproof Children/Prevention First, which works with the National Association of State Fire Marshals to provide the workshops nationwide. "Through these workshops, we're helping local fire departments develop these skills so that they can help juvenile fire-setters break the cycle of fire-setting and grow up to be healthy adults."

Crandall and Bonnie Mayer, a trainer with Fireproof Children/Prevention First, conducted the workshop at the Office of the State Fire Marshal headquarters in Springfield. Personnel from 12 fire departments attended the workshop: Augusta Fire Protection District, Bloomington

Fire Department, Bourbonnais Fire Protection District, Centralia Fire Department, Charleston Fire Department, Dalzell Fire Department, East St. Louis Fire Department, Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District, Greenville Fire Department, Mount Prospect Fire Department, Sterling Fire Department, and the Zion Fire and Rescue. In addition, a police detective from East St. Louis and two arson investigators with the Office of the State Fire Marshal participated in the workshop.

Crandall said that after the Rochester, N.Y., fire department focused more on identifying juvenile fire-setters and getting them the help they needed, the rate of repeated fire-setting by those juveniles decreased dramatically. During that same four-year study period, other juvenile problems, such as school suspensions and juvenile delinquency petitions, increased slightly.

Juvenile fire-setting is a large problem nationwide, with nearly 14,000 incidents reported each year, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Those fires result in about 1,460 deaths and injuries and $339 million in property loss annually. But Crandall cautioned that these numbers aren't complete, since many other juvenile fire incidents are never reported to authorities. In addition, juveniles account for more than 50 percent of all arson arrests.

Children who cause fires generally fall into four categories:

• The curiosity or experimental fire-setter, who doesn't understand the destructive potential of fire and has unsupervised access to lighters or matches.

• The troubled child, who has set at least two fires and uses fire to express anger, sadness, frustration and powerless feelings.

• The emotionally disturbed child, who sets many fires and has a chronic history of school behavior, social, emotional or physical problems.

• The delinquent or criminal child, usually teens with a history of fire-setting, truancy, anti-social behavior, or drug and alcohol abuse who set fires with the intent to destroy or as acts of vandalism and malicious mischief.

Crandall noted while all situations of juveniles and fire are dangerous, the most dangerous are those involving young children, because they don't understand the risks associated with fire. "To a child of 4 or 5 years old, they may know they shouldn't be playing with a lighter or matches but don't really understand the consequences of their actions," said Crandall. "They may run off to a closet or their bedroom to play with the lighter, and when something catches on fire they don't want to tell anybody for fear they'll get in trouble."

Several family factors can contribute to juvenile fire involvement, including exposure to fire activities, access to ignition materials, inappropriate assignment of responsibility, absence of clear rules and inadequate monitoring.

In Illinois, anyone who knows a child who plays with fire can contact the Youthful Firesetters Intervention Hotline at [phone] or Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood at [phone] for help.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal has a brochure, "Children and Fire, A Dangerous Combination," that provides information about the problem of juvenile fire-setters and how to get help. The brochure is available in English and Spanish by calling [phone], or visit www.state.il.us/osfm for more information.

[News release from the Office of the State Fire Marshal]

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