Fire Department

Juvenile Firesetter Education Program

In a typical year, in the United States, 300 people are killed and $300 million dollars in property is destroyed in fires set by children. Children themselves are usually the victims of these fires, accounting for 85 of every 100 lives lost.

The statistics are climbing. It is a problem that needs the attention of parents, teachers, counselors and community leaders, in cooperation with fire and law enforcement officers.

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, a child could change his/her life and the life of their family with the strike of just one match.

These tragic events are not isolated incidents.

	In Roanoke, Virginia, a seven-year-old boy set fire to a chair in an abandoned building, the fire spread to an adjacent house and trapped an elderly woman.
	In Rochester, New York, a two-year-old, playing with matches, started a fire that took his life and the lives of five family members.
	In Passaic, New Jersey, a firefighter lost his life and hundreds of people lost their homes in a fire accidentally started by a group of teenage boys.