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Juvenile's At Risk
Children, we're beginning to realize, set fires
for predictable reasons: curiosity, frustration, mischief, and sometimes,
malice. Two-thirds of all young fire setters don't really know what
they're doing, although they usually have a reason for their actions.
For a child between two and seven, fire play is a natural, though
dangerous, part of growing up and exploring the world around them.
Many of these children need education and guidance to stop these
proliferated actions and for the protection of our community. Crook
County Fire and Rescue has been using a tool set fourth by the Oregon
State Fire Marshals Office.
The Oregon Juvenile With Fire Screening Tool was first introduced
in 1998. It’s use is for the data collection of juvenile-set
fires along with the administration of education to our community.
The State of Oregon uses the information for assessing the scope
of the problem and evaluating the direction of our intervention
programs.
America has the highest arson rate in the world. It is estimated
that property losses from arson will exceed $1.5 billion this year.
Fire is the leading cause of property damage loss, according to
the National School Safety Center. Of that fire total, $90 million
is known arson, almost all of it the result of fires started by
children.
Arson is the leading crime of violence committed by children in
the United States. More than half off all arsonists arrested in
the past 10 years have been under 18; nearly a quarter of those
under 10. What's more, those who are responding to the juvenile
firesetting problem say the average young perpetrator is between
5 and 9, far younger than the FBI's criminal statistics indicate.
Recently, Crook County has been increasing the number of screenings
conducted by our fire service personnel. Our department has adopted
the NFPA Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Specialist I certification
through the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST).
This allows us to provide fire education guidelines and supports
our interventionists in working with firesetting youths. Please
contact CCF&R for further information at (541) 447-5011.
** Information provided by OSFM’s office
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