Defusing young firebugs

Kudos to area fire departments that are reaching out to teach juvenile firebugs that starting fires is no game.

We applaud their efforts, which officials say appear to be curbing the number of repeat offenders among children setting fires.

Of course, parents should be talking to their children, too. Preventing kids from fire play is more than a matter of protecting property. It also can save lives.

As state Department of Public Safety Spokeswoman Jessica Lown told us this week, children need to understand that matches, lighters and fires are tools, not toys. It's important to make sure that kids get the message.

Across the country, about 300 people die each year in fires started by children. Lown said it's difficult to get a statistical sense of juvenile fire setting in Iowa, in part, because criminal charges often aren't filed against the youths.

But anecdotally, she said it seems that juvenile fire-setting incidents could be rising.

“I've noticed more media reporting of it anyway,” she said.

Children are tempted to play with fire for a number of reasons. Sometimes, fire play is part of a larger problem - a cry for help, as it were. Other times, the child is only curious about fire. They may be mimicking something they've seen on television or at the movies.

Frequently, they don't understand how quickly a fire can spread out of control.

“I think a lot of these young juveniles who get into the fire setting they just don't have any idea how dangerous it is,” Lown said.

Enlisting the help of professional fire fighters is a “big plus,” when it comes to educating youths about just how risky it is to play with fire, she said.

“Anytime we can intervene in an impressionable period of their lives and help them make healthy choices, I think that's a positive thing.”

Intervention programs such as those in Cedar Rapids, Marion and Iowa City can help turn around a budding firebug before a child becomes a regular threat to himself and others.

For example, officials at the Cedar Rapids program, which will be one of four programs spotlighted at an upcoming National Fire Academy Training, told a Gazette reporter their program reaches about 30 kids each year, most between the ages of 9 and 14.

None of the kids who have gone through the program in the past five years has repeated the mistake, they say. That's something to be proud of.

By identifying at-risk youths, intervening early, teaching them the risks of playing with fire and working with other agencies to connect youths with other help when appropriate, local fire agencies are doing us all a big favor.

Promptly redirecting child offenders not only helps a particular child and the family, it protects the community.