Area departments fight juvenile fire-starters

LIMA -- Area firefighters are teaming up in an effort to extinguish fires set by juveniles.

All 13 fire departments in Allen County are a part of the effort. The fire departments, working with Allen County Juvenile Court, are working to educate and treat juveniles who show an unhealthy interest in starting fires.

"We were having problems in the past identifying kids who needed the program, then getting them to actually attend. By partnering with Juvenile Court they will add some teeth to the program by ordering the kids to come through our program," said Chief Joe Kitchen, of the Bath Township Fire Department. "Maybe through counseling and an assessment of these kids we can figure out why they're starting these fires. Maybe there's a very serious underlying issue and that's where Juvenile Court comes in. They're the experts in that."

Kitchen cited statistics from the National Fire Protection Association that a child playing with fire is the fourth leading cause of fires that result in death. Juvenile arson accounts for more than half of arson arrests, according to FBI statistics.

"When the fire chiefs came to me back in April, they said we have this issue and we'd like to know how best to address it. I felt we had the right mechanism at the Juvenile Court to do that," said Judge Glenn Derryberry, of Allen County Juvenile Court. "I think it can save lives and money in the long run if we can catch some of these kids early."

Derryberry said Juvenile Court does not often see children younger than 10 years old. The aim of the new collaboration is to find those children early, get them treatment and the education to realize how serious setting fires can be before they reach an age where they will be more likely to set fires.

The new countywide juvenile fire-setter program builds on a program the Lima Fire Department has had for years, said Chief Mark Heffner, of the Lima Fire Department.

"If a child starts fires or the parents think a child has an inordinate interest in fire they'll bring them in and we'll go through age-appropriate training," Heffner said. "What's happened in the past is we've had children who the parents initially think it's a good idea but they fail to show up for the appointments. What this does is now the courts can actually order them into the program."