The Allen County Juvenile Firesetters Task Force was formed to identify and help juveniles that have begun to experiment with firesetting. Juvenile firesetting is a common problem in many communities, including Allen County, and the goal of the Task Force is to reduce the number of incidents of juvenile set fires and to assist the families in preventing a reoccurrence of the problem. Firesetting by children is serious and should not be dismissed as simply a “phase they are going through.” Fifty five percent of all arson fires each year are started by juveniles 18 and under, and half of those fires are started by children under 15. These fires can cause serious destruction of property and many times the death and/or injury of not only the juvenile themselves, but of innocent people as well.
The Task Force is a collaboration of agencies helping children and their families through troubled times. Agencies involved in the Task Force consist of the Fort Wayne Fire Department, St. Joseph Regional Burn Center, Allen County Juvenile Probation, Department of Child Services, Northeast Indiana Burn Council, and local mental health professionals and social workers. Each group or individual plays a unique and vital role in identifying, evaluating, educating, and assisting these juveniles and their families.
Warning signs of firesetting behavior may include an intense interest or preoccupation with fire, damaged or burnt property, missing or out of place matches and lighters, and burn marks on the juvenile or the juvenile’s belongings. Some possible characteristics of juvenile firesetters are impulsiveness, poor social skills, anger and stress management problems, and other antisocial behavior. Children set fires for numerous reasons such as curiosity and experimentation, to experience a feeling of control, as a reaction to stress in their lives, to help release emotions they cannot appropriately deal with, and for feeling alienated. Not every child that exhibits the above behaviors and characteristics is, or will become, a juvenile firesetter, but nearly every juvenile firesetter will exhibit some of the above behaviors and characteristics.
The Allen County Juvenile Firesetters Task Force is continually attempting to educate the general public, as well as professionals that work with children, about the juvenile firesetting problem and the services offered by the Task Force. If your group would like to schedule an educational session please contact a Task Force member or call the Fort Wayne Fire Department at 260-427-5179.
Click the links below for more specific information and/or to schedule an intervention.
Juvenile Firesetters Brochure-English
Juvenile Firesetters Brochure-Spanish
Saving Lives before the Fire
The Fort Wayne Fire Department's Safety Education Division believes educating the public will help prevent fires and save lives. They offer a variety of services including basic fire and life safety displays, general public fire safety presentations, fire safety and hands-on fire extinguisher training for businesses, school safety/career programs and in-depth structured safety programs in all the elementary schools. This commitment by the Fort Wayne Fire Department to “save lives and preserve property” through education and prevention has resulted in less fire deaths and injuries and less property losses for our citizens.
The following is a list of some of the programs offered by the Fort Wayne Fire Department's Safety Education Division:
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Learn Not To Burn: A comprehensive program presented yearly to pre-school through fifth grade children to teach and reinforce fire safe behaviors.
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The Survive Alive House: A program for all ages that allows hands-on experience practicing escapes from a realistic appearing, but totally safe, artificial house fire.
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Juvenile Fire-Setters Interventions: A program to assist families with children that have shown an above normal curiosity about fire or have actually used fire inappropriately.
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Community Fire Safety/Burn Prevention: A hard hitting and compelling educational program on the reality of burn injuries. Videos based on the stories of real life burn survivors form the basis for an in-depth discussion on the importance of being proactive in practicing burn prevention.
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Fire Extinguisher Training: Adult hands-on training regarding the proper use of fire extinguishers in the home and/or business. This program explains the type of fire extinguishers available for the public and their applications and limitations in real world situations.
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Sparky’s Hazard House: A large table-top house loaded with fire and life safety hazards that need to be identified and corrected. As hazards are identified, the results of the specific uncorrected hazard can be demonstrated through discussion and special audio/visual effects.
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Spotz: The Fort Wayne Fire Department's Dalmatian mascot makes many special appearances to help promote good public relations and remind citizens to always think about fire safety.
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Freddie: A large remote controlled fire truck that interacts with the public. Freddie has the ability to hear and speak to children (and adults!). He also loves to show off his lights and sirens and he really enjoys spraying people with water!
We encourage you to invite the Safety Education Division to make a presentation to your group, or we can set up safety education displays and have a firefighter on hand to answer questions at your special events.
Please contact the Fort Wayne Fire Department Safety Education Division personnel listed below to schedule a program or to answer your questions.
Captain Andrea Burton, 260-427-5179 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Captain Amber Stine, 260-427-1483 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For valuable fire safety tips about cooking at home, checking smoke alarms, creating an escape plan, portable space heaters, camp fires and much, much more, please visit the National Fire Protection Association's Public Education Safety Tips web page.
previous year. As the children grow older, the lessons progress accordingly, which not only reinforces fire safety concepts they’ve already learned, but helps the student understand the need to follow fire safety rules. Although the program primarily focuses on fire safety, the children also have the opportunity to learn about firefighting jobs and protective gear. Lessons consist of basic fire safety concepts such as stop, drop, & roll, stay away from fire and hot stuff, good fire/bad fire, smoke detector awareness, house fire escape planning and techniques, proper use of 911, home fire hazards awareness, burn prevention, personal responsibility, arson awareness and more. Each student will receive an age-appropriate activity book to take home and share with their families. This program works best when it is presented to children in the same age group. The fire and life safety programs taught to elementary school children are also offered to middle and high school groups, home schools, church groups, day care facilities, group homes and others when requested.