Helping Kids Douse the Urge to Start Fires

By the time the embers inside the Anaheim apartment building had cooled, 100 people were homeless and a firefighter was injured after having plunged through the roof.

The fire setters turned out to be ages 6 and 7. They had been playing with matches. A week later another child, this time a girl from Placentia, escaped injury but destroyed her bedroom after she lighted a candle.

It’s a story that Kathleen Highland likes to tell because the two 1997 incidents were the genesis for the county’s first intervention program aimed at youthful arsonists.

Six years later, Orange County’s Firesetter Regional Intervention Education Network and Delivery System has won praise across the country from cities and fire agencies that hope to emulate the program.

“It’s an excellent program, and I can tell you we’ve had a tremendous amount of success because it’s such an in-depth program,” said Mike Whitson, the juvenile fire program coordinator in Galesburg, Ill., where the program was adopted.

Nationally, 40% to 60% of all fires set on purpose are started by juveniles, said Highland, who works with the Orange County Fire Authority. Young firebugs cause an estimated $235 million in damage a year, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

But because few agencies track fires set by juveniles, Highland has become something of a national spokeswoman, traveling to dozens of fire conferences to introduce the program.

Rather than focus on punishment, the program is among the first to put a priority on the child’s motivation and on changing unacceptable behavior.

Children, some as young as 3, are brought in by parents or firefighters or are referred by police, probation officials or the courts. They are assessed -- in what’s essentially psychological triage -- and placed in one of three categories: simple for low risk, complex for moderate risk and emergent for extreme risk.

Serious offenders are given a behavioral health assessment and mandatory class lectures with parents that cover topics ranging from fire safety to risk.

“Usually, when a child is picked up by a fire investigator and taken home, there’s a shock. Parents can’t believe their child has been bad,” said Jennifer Bower, the program’s intervention coordinator and an assistant fire marshal.

For serious offenders, such as those who cause at least $1,000 in damage and are 14 or older, fire investigators often refer them for formal or informal probation. Informal probation requires the child to complete the program, pay restitution, pay cost recovery to the fire department and possibly perform community service.

If they fail, they face incarceration and a permanent criminal record.

“Arson is a felony, even at the juvenile level,” Bower said.

When it comes to flames and children, there seems to be a natural curiosity, Highland said. But repeat offenders often have deep-rooted psychological reasons for acting out.

It could be a family breakup, a new sibling or school pressures, said Craig A. Childress, a pediatric psychologist at Children’s Hospital of Orange County who helps administer the assessment and treatment portion of the program.

Children in the high-risk category present the biggest challenge.

“These are kids with a history of a number of fires, and to them, the fire is sensory. They like looking at the fire and subsequent hoopla involved with the firetrucks zooming by and sirens blaring,” Childress said.

“They get a rush from seeking the power, getting the firetrucks and seeing the damage they have unleashed.”

The program has 360 children in its database, but it doesn’t have enough information yet to provide a good profile of a juvenile fire setter, Highland said.

Ninety-four percent are boys ages 11 to 15. They include all ethnic groups and span the socioeconomic spectrum.

The program recently received $600,000 in grants, which constitutes its first budget. Previously, the staff has been provided by other agencies.

With the money, the program’s organizers hope to set up an improved regional database at Children’s Hospital, which already has computer software that protects the identity of the juveniles in the program.

One of the obstacles has been sharing information about serial fire setters.

Hundreds of copies of the program have been mailed throughout the country, and videos are available for free through Allstate Insurance Co., Highland said.

For more information, the program’s Web site is www.oc firefriends.org.