The Ventura County program was begun in 1983 because firefighters began getting more and more requests from parents who needed help.Ībout 15 firefighters got together and organized a meeting with a staff psychologist from Ventura County on how to interview a firesetter. They are given mock firefighter’s badges and certificates signed by the fire chief. The reward for good behavior comes a month later with a trip to the fire station, where the children are encouraged to put on firemen’s gear, play on the firetruck and squirt water from a hose. The children are enlisted to check the smoke detector once a month to make sure it works, Ackerman said. In the case of problem firesetters, the firefighters confer with mental health experts and decide whether to run their educational program in conjunction with counseling, Ackerman said.ĭuring the second meeting, which is held two weeks after the first, the firefighters discuss smoke detectors and exit drills from the house in case of fire. If the firefighters notice something that indicates possible child abuse or other problems, they contact another county agency, Ackerman said. During an interview with the children alone, the firefighters try to determine whether the children are simply curious about fires or are problem firesetters who are reacting to underlying trauma. Then, the family is coached in fire-safety practices, such as the “stop, drop and roll” technique of squelching flames on one’s body or clothing, Ackerman said.įirefighters also use the first visit, which takes place at the children’s houses, to evaluate the home environments of the firesetters. Later in the session, the children are asked to apologize to their parents for setting fires. “We’ve got to make them experience it without going through the tragedy,” Ackerman said. Sometimes children are taken to the site of a fire so they can smell the smoke and witness the destruction firsthand. And they sometimes talk about how sad it is when toys, such as skateboards, are destroyed in a fire. The firesetters are also shown pictures of children who have sustained burns so severe that their facial characteristics have been obliterated.ĭuring the meeting, the children are asked to rub a basketball while firefighters liken the sensation to the tough, unpliable texture of a burned person’s skin.įirefighters may go on to say that some burned children cannot throw a baseball because of damage to their hands. The detailed narrative, called the burn treatment story, is illustrated with snapshots of fire victims that show everything from how dead tissue is pulled from burned areas to the way skin grafts are performed. “No one can explain it like a firefighter-the pain of burns and the treating of burns,” Ackerman said.ĭuring the first meeting, the firefighters tell the children and their families a story about what happens to people who are seriously burned. The Ventura County program, which is presented in three sessions, introduces children to the dangers of playing with fire. “I think he started realizing the seriousness of what could happen,” Hughes said of her son. That slip was quickly corrected with one additional meeting with Ackerman, Hughes said. Hughes’ son, now 15, has set only one fire since he completed the program. But the fires stopped immediately after her son began meeting with Fire Engineer Jim Ackerman, Hughes said. Hughes said the child’s occasional interest in setting fire to piles of Popsicle sticks and shoelaces became a daily habit. Hughes said she saw a dramatic increase in the number of fires her son set in the six months before she enrolled him in the Ventura County program.
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