Children and fire: A story of concern

Fire safety authorities call for increased adult responsibility

The flames that consumed a Knolls Vista home have renewed the desire of safety authorities in the area to keep more children from being potential fire-starters.

Brett Bastian, fire marshall for the Moses Lake Fire Department said that fires such as Tuesday's, which was started by a five-year-old child with a box of matches, keep on happening in homes nationwide.

MLFD Chief David Helms said what contributes to children starting fires, is that many times they play with matches or similar items in their bedrooms with the doors closed. Bastian noted the amount of flammable materials found in a bedroom as a factor, as well.

"Once the fires are started, they (children) leave the room and close the door," Helms explained, "because they have the mentality of 'out of sight, out of mind.'" The closed doors lead to a delayed detection of the fire, he said.

The first step in avoiding having kids start fires, Helms said, is to realize kids do have a potential to start a fire, and not think a child does not have the ability or strength to light a match or to use a lighter.

"Children do many things out of curiosity," Helms said. "That curiosity needs to be recognized and channeled."

Helms said curiosity appeared to have been a factor in the Knolls Vista fire.

"We did find an evidence of fire starting activities out back," Helms said. "It looks like the kid saw his older brother starting a fire, and it looked like fun, so he set a fire."

Roger Hansen, Chief of Grant County Fire District 5, said parents should find out what their children are playing with, while Bastian stressed the importance of keeping matches and other fire-starting devices out of the reach of children, as they are a potentially destructive tool.

A helpful tool, Helms said, is for parents to talk to children about fire in terms they can understand, or can relate to, such as what a fire can do to their toys, their siblings or their home.

In children, a continuous pattern of starting fires might be a sign of issues other than curiosity, such as a child's desire to attract attention or to express his or her anger. Helms warned that fire-setting behavior needs to be categorized before it is diagnosed.

"Not all children that start fires need mental health counseling," he said. "Some of them are just curious about how that flame that came out of a match was not there seconds ago."

In some cases, there might be a need for further counseling, Helms said, depending on their age and their answers during an interview after the incident.

Some of the goals of such an interview, Helms said, is to talk to the child about the dangers of fire, and to get him to take an active role in fire prevention with his siblings and friends. "We kind of recruit them to help us," he said.

When it comes to dealing with really young kids, Helms said, the responsibility is on the parents, given that kids at a very early age are not able to grasp the effect of what fire can do.

"We have to tell parents it is their responsibility to make sure kids have no access to matches or lighters," Helms said, adding that many houses have been burned by parents who were fooled by thinking their child could never strike a match or use a lighter.

"All kids have the potential to light a fire," Helms said. "Part of their learning experience is copying what adults do."

Rick Wentworth, battalion chief for Grant County 5, said that many of these adults do not treat things with the respect they should in potentially dangerous situations.

"They start a barbecue using the whole can of lighter fluid," he said. "Kids learn from what their parents do."

On the other hand, Helms said that if a kid does light a fire with disastrous results, parents should not "lay a guilt trip" on the child that he or she is going to have to carry for the rest of their life.

Hansen said that adult carelessness is as big a problem as juveniles starting fires. "It's not just children. Fire safety at home is not usually a big priority for adults," he said. "People do a lot of things without thinking of the potential for fire," such as leaving candles lit in empty rooms.

Helms corroborated Hansen's words, saying home fires are an "underrated danger" among adults.

"Eighty-five percent of fire fatalities happen at a person's home," Helms said. "That's where they should be the safest."

Bastian agreed, saying adults hear a litany of advice, from checking smoke detectors' batteries every six months to buying a fire extinguisher, throughout their lives, but they never pay much attention to it, "until it hits close to home."

Helms said smoke detectors are considered a nuisance for many people, while others do not know how or where to place them in their house. He offered his department's help if people have trouble with this type of situation.

"We can help you get rid of the nuisance without getting rid of the protection," he said. "Don't get rid of the protection because it's a nuisance."

He added, "Smoke detectors save lives. That is an absolute fact."