Washington Insurance Council

King County Juvenile Firesetters Intervention Program

Background
While fire plays a large part in our everyday lives, it can be a great attraction for many people. For some children, this fascination can turn to intentional and repeated firesetting behavior.

When 1995 ended, there had been 47,000* suspicious or deliberately set fires, more than half of which were caused by children under age 18.  Every year in lives are lost when children misuse fire.  Most of these children are very young and the innocent victims of either their own mistakes, or of problems their family may be experiencing. According to the National Fire Protection Association, children cause nearly 3,000 injuries and over 162 million dollars in property loss each year. It is also reported that over fifty percent of arson fires in this country are set by juveniles. These trends are shocking and difficult to accept, however, what is even more disheartening is the fact that in most cases child set fires can be prevented. Intervention and education with children who misuse fire can prevent senseless loss of life and property.

The King County program was created out of the need to respond to the issue of juveniles and firesetting. It is a collaborative effort between the Arson Alarm Foundation, the King County Fire and Life Safety Co-op, and Bellevue Community Services, Inc./BCS/CoHear. The objective of this program is to establish a comprehensive regional juvenile firesetter intervention program to reduce the incidents of fire play and firesetting by children and adolescents, through early identification, assessment, education, counseling and referral for at risk juveniles between the ages of 2 and 17.

Following a two year study in 1991, the official program was launched. During the first year of the program 213 children were assessed for fire incidents. Sixty eight percent (144) were determined to be curiosity firesetters and were provided with safety education. Demographic information is collected on every child to assist in monitoring and evaluating all aspects of the program. The remaining thirty-two percent (69) of the children were assessed and determined to be of greater risk of repeating this behavior, and were referred on to mental health professionals for continued intervention. Of those children involved in the program ninety percent were males, sixty-seven percent were between the ages of 6-11 years of age. Twenty-three percent resided in single parent homes, eighty-seven percent were of white ethnic background.

1995-Year in Review
During 1995 we provided services to 147 children. Of those children receiving services forty-five (45) were determined to be "at risk firesetters" and fell in to either the "definite" or "extreme" categories. These children were referred to the mental health providers (BCS/CoHear) for treatment. The remaining 102 children, who were determined to be "curios", were provided fire safety education by the interventionists.

The educational component that is provided by the Fire Department, consists of a variety of fire and life safety messages. All efforts are directed at the firesetter and his/her family. The goal of the education is to teach the child about fire, who should use it, the dangers, and how to prevent it. The family also learns ways to make their home more safe and ways to reduce their risk of having a fire. In most cases they are also taught what to do if they ever experience fire. Education helps to address the child's fascination or curiosity with fire and hopefully equips him/her with the tools necessary to recognize the dangers of fire. Children learn to respect fire and to always use caution where fire is concerned. Many interventionists incorporate creative teaching methodologies, that include active participation on the part of the child and the family to enhance the learning.

The identified "at risk" firesetters are referred to a mental health professional and receive a face to face consultation. This consultation is inclusive of a wide array of testing instruments. These tests assess the extent of pathology demonstrated by the juvenile. These contacts also provide a collateral consultation with school personnel, family physicians, and other professionals who have significant contact with the juvenile's family. Treatment can also include; short-term problem solving techniques to improve family and other interpersonal dynamics, parental education which empowers the parent to more effectively deal with the juvenile's behavior, communication skills training, substance abuse assessment; continued consultations with multi-disciplinary treatment team; and network and referral services provided for the juvenile and his or her family to further services in the community when needed. At the conclusion of the treatment time it is important to know that the funding also covers a follow-up of program participants. This is an opportunity to reinforce the treatment, and fire safety messages and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program

updated 5-97

*Arson information extracted from Insurance Issues Update, Insurance Information Institute, 110 William Street, New York, NY 10038