Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service has a team of firesetter
counsellors, which was initially formed in 1997 to address the
problems of fireplay and firesetting behaviour in young children.
Each member of the team is trained to levels 1 and 2 of the
National Juvenile Firesetting Training Programme.
The team, which consists of 20 volunteers from across the
Brigade, continues to receive a steady stream of referrals with the
number of cases completed totalling over 70 since the scheme was
formally introduced in 1997. Whilst this number does not seem very
large compared with the urban areas of Merseyside (500), West
Yorkshire (220) and West Midlands (110) [figures for 1997/98], it
is representative of the number received by other rural and
sometimes larger brigade areas.
Although most of the cases seen by the team deal with curiosity
fireplay behaviour, some individual counsellors are now beginning
to work with more difficult and complex cases. That is not to say,
of course, that the young child idly playing with a lighter or box
of matches in his bedroom is less of a problem. We have,
unfortunately, recent experience in Suffolk of fatalities in
dwelling fires caused by such behaviour. If this type of behaviour
is not intervened, the risk of such incidents being repeated rises
dramatically.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service’s Juvenile Firesetter
Intervention Scheme is in line with the Preventative Approach,
supported and endorsed by the Home Office, and which acknowledges
that it is far better to prevent fires than to have them and then
put them out! The 'Safe As Houses' report proposed a preventative
approach in all aspects, possibly including the development of
Juvenile Firesetter programmes across the country.
Every case is handled with full confidentiality assured.
Building our network of all interested and appropriate agencies is
a long, slow process but one which we need to develop further if we
are to be fully effective and of real assistance to a troubled
child. Our newly formed links with the Area Child Protection
Committee is seen as particularly important in this respect.
Should you require any information regarding the work of the
Juvenile Firesetter Intervention team, please contact the Team:
write to the address at the top of the screen, telephone: 01473
260588, or email
enquiries@fire.suffolk.gov.uk.
Information on Children and Young Persons Acts.
Community Safety Demonstrators