Fighting the urges to begin fires

Deepa Bharath

It’s more than a friendly visit to the neighborhood fire station.

It’s more than a big, burly firefighter wagging his finger at you

and telling you never to play with matches again.

Orange County Fire F.R.I.E.N.D.S, which stands for Firesetter

Regional Intervention Education Network and Delivery System, is a

program that goes several steps further with children for whom

playing with fire becomes a dangerous habit and an addiction.

Costa Mesa is now part of the program, which was started by the

Orange County Fire Authority. The city’s fire department started it

in Costa Mesa about nine months ago and has counseled three children

so far, said Cheryl Wills, fire prevention specialist.

The children are usually brought in the city’s fire prevention

office on Royal Palm Drive where they are given a questionnaire to

answer. Depending on their answers, the children are either

classified as “simple, complex or emergent,” Wills said.

“All children go through a phase where they are curious about

fire,” she said. “They play with matches once or twice and stop after

they are told not to.”

But when that behavioral pattern continues as the child grows

older, it flares up and becomes a problem, Wills said.

“That curiosity should stop by the time a child gets to fourth

grade,” she said. “If they continue to light fires after that, then

that’s not normal.”

Those who fall under the “simple” category barely have a problem

and all they need is a basic lesson on fire safety, Wills said.

Children who fall under the “complex” category do have a problem and

will be asked to take basic fire safety classes, two four-hour

sessions, offered for free by the Children’s Hospital of Orange

County. And the “emergent” category of children, who are said to have

a serious problem, will receive further help from a behavioral

specialist.

The program is funded largely by the Federal Emergency Management

Agency and the Black Firefighters Assn., Wills said.

“Luckily, none of the children we saw fell under the extreme

category,” she said. “But we saw a remarkable improvement in one case

we saw where the girl never repeated that kind of behavior after she

went through the program. So, if the parent or guardian is committed

and stays with it, it could work.”

Costa Mesa Fire Chief Jim Ellis said he has seen his share of

“fire setters” during his years as a firefighter.

“It’s all well and good when parents bring their kids to the

station and Firefighter Jim talks to their kids about fire safety and

gives them a tour,” he said. “But it doesn’t necessarily work all the

time. Some kids need more.”

They need specific types of counseling, he said.

“They definitely need some serious help,” Ellis said. “And

hopefully, this kind of early intervention will nip the problem in

the bud.”