AUGUSTA, Maine — According to the state fire marshal’s office, 174 fires in Maine in 2014 were set by children, causing injuries, deaths and $2.5 million in damage.
The statistics may be shocking, but unfortunately, they aren’t new.
Back in November, flames swept through a Caribou mobile home, killing a mother and her three children.
“Very hard to see that happen,” said Milo Haney, who owns a general store the family visited.
Even harder was finding out the fire was set by the 3-year-old who died. State Fire Marshal Joe Thomas said earlier the same morning that the boy had put a Bible in the oven and lit it on fire.
“The family up there said that morning the fire happened, the mother was actually gonna go to the fire department with those kids to talk about fire setting,” said Thomas.
Just last month, 43 people were displaced from their Auburn apartment building after a 6-year-old used a lighter to set his bed on fire.
“It’s a terrible thing,” Thomas said. “There’s no question about it, but I’ll tell you it’s fascinating.”
When it comes to juvenile fire setting, there’s more data now than ever before.
The state fire marshal’s office conducted a study between 2000 and 2010. In that period, 2,531 fires were started by juveniles, causing 14 deaths, 115 injuries and over $40 million in damage. Nearly all of the children were boys, and just more than half were between the ages of 11 and 15.
Thomas said fire officials are seeing an increase in the number of girls setting fires, and they seem to be targeting people rather than objects. He also said he has seen a rise in thrill-seekers, using fire to have fun and often posting about it on social media.
“It draws the attention of all of us, and it doesn’t surprise me that children would be fascinated by it,” said psychologist William Gayton, who heads the psychology department at the University of Southern Maine.
He said children who start fires typically fall into one of four categories.
Curiosity is the most common, when children experiment with matches or lighters.
The second is crisis, which is a cry for help.
Thomas still thinks about a fire he responded to as deputy chief in Portland.
“Come to find out that 5-year-old was being sexually abused on that bed. The only way he knew how to make it stop was to burn it,” said Thomas.
Sometimes children are being delinquent, setting fires as an act of vandalism. The last reason is pathological, which can be the result of psychotic behavior by those who may not be in touch with reality or understand the danger.
But there is help. Pamela Tourangeau runs the York County Juvenile Fire Safety & Intervention Collaborative.
Participants range from two to 17, and are referred by their families, fire departments, schools or social services. With their parents, they attend six-hours worth of class that comes with some homework.
They learn lessons in fire science, fire safety, burns and accountability. Some also get mental health services.
It ends with the children taking an inventory of their bedroom.
“Then they have to work with their family to estimate what would replacement cost if they had to buy all this stuff again?” said Tourangeau. “It’s usually quite an eye-opener.”
The program has proven effective.
“I think in 10 years, I’ve had two kids come back through the program,” said Tourangeau.
While the overall number of fires set by juveniles is increasing, Thomas said it’s hard to draw a conclusion.
“I don’t know whether the indication is there’s more of it or more of a recognition of it,” he said.
He does know early intervention is key.
“If somebody thinks there’s something going on with fire behavior with their children, they need to get a hold of someone so it can be addressed properly,” he said.