Some fires started by children are deliberate acts designed to cause harm, many others are not. Those that are not, have much in common with other causes of unintentional injury. The children & fire resources we have listed here deal with both types of problems and have been divided into the five categories listed at the top of the page.

Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Fireproof Children/ Prevention First shares more than 25 years of research and hands-on experience by fire investigators and child development experts. A practical book with effective educational interventions, tips on communication skills and step-by-step interviewing guide, chapters especially for mental health professionals, and nuts and bolts techniques for building community coalitions. Bonus materials including sample classroom lesson plans. For fire service, teachers and daycare providers, social workers, mental health professionals, and everyone concerned with children and fire.

Spiral Bound 140 pages ISBN: 9780962607653 List Price: 79.95 order form

Click here to preview the Table of Contents Praise for Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention   The authors have been in the forefront of establishing community coalitions to address the juvenile fire problem. They have incorporated a wealth of knowledge, gained from conducting myriad juvenile firesetting workshops nationwide, into this outstanding new edition. Frank McGarry, former New York State Fire Administrator I’ve come to expect nothing less than excellence from Fireproof Children/Prevention First, and this book meets that expectation. Don Porth, SOS FIRES: Youth Intervention Programs and Portland Fire & Rescue Mental health practitioners have an important role to play in preventing and intervening in juvenile firesetting. This book helps demystify firesetting behavior, and provides guidance for effective assessment and treatment. Sherri MacKay, Ph.D., The Arson Prevention Program for Children (TAPP-C) Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto   In 42 years of involvement with the issues of children and fire, I’ve learned that the most important things are:  early identification and early intervention, establishing rapport with families, finding out the motivation for the behavior, and providing an intervention that will change that behavior. This book provides step-by-step guidance in exactly these keys to success. Joe B. Day, Joe B. Day and Associates

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – National Center for Injury Prevention and Control www.cdc.gov/ncipc/WISQARS

The CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) works to reduce morbidity, disability, mortality, and costs associated with injuries.

WISQARSTM™ (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) is the Injury Center's interactive, online database that provides customized injury-related mortality data and nonfatal injury data useful for research and for making informed public health decisions. WISQARS can provide customized reports based on user specified age groups and geographicl information.

FBI Uniform Crime Reports (2002). http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

Arson is the only crime tracked by the FBI for which more juveniles are arrested than adults. Access the FBI’s Crime in the United States online, published annually with data about the volume and rate of criminal offenses at the state and national level.

The Psychology of Child Firesetting - Chapters1 -4. Purchase this book from www.mental-health-matters.com

The sited chapters from this book by Jessica Gaynor and Chris Hatcher include an overview of the prevalence of juvenile firesetting; the crime of arson; youthful fire behavior in the context of psychoanalytic theory, social learning theory, and dynamic behavioral theory; and pathological fire behavior.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A Comprehensive Textbook, M. Lewis (Ed.) - "Firesetting" chapter Purchase the complete book from the publisher’s website: http://www.lww.com

The sited chapter by Jessica Gaynor, examines the epidemiology of child fire involvement, theoretical frameworks regarding the development of firesetting behavior in youngsters, treatment options, and suggest future research directions.

Children Playing with Fire (2003), National Fire Protection Association http://www.nfpa.org/catalog/Home/index.asp

This report by John Hall presents the overall size of the problem and trends relating to children's fireplay including data representing the deaths, injuries and property damage resulting from child started fires.

Patterns of Fire Casualties in Home Fires by Age and Sex (2001), National Fire Protection Association http://www.nfpa.org/catalog/Home/index.asp

This report by John Hall examines civilian casualties in homes for patterns by age and sex of victim, relative to various circumstances surrounding the casualty, such as the cause of fire. Special attention is given to trends involving high-risk age groups, including preschool children. Child playing is identified as by far the leading cause of fire death among preschool children as well as children ages 6-9.

Handbook on Firesetting in Children and Youth, David Kolko http://www.pitt.edu/~kolko/

This multidisciplinary handbook is a comprehensive source of information on all topics relating to children who set fires. For more information about David Kolko’s research and to order this book visit his website.

National Safety Council. (2003). Injury Facts®, 2003 Edition. Itasca, IL: Author http://www.nsc.org

Injury Facts®is the National Safety Council’s annual statistical report on unintentional injuries, their characteristics and related costs. Visit the National Safety Council’s website for information about how to order this and other NSC books, manuals and reports and to access many resources offered free of charge.

The Portland Report '99: A Report on the Juvenile Firesetting Problem. http://sosfires.com/new.html

The Portland Report is an annual report by Don Porth, produced by Portland, Oregon Fire and Rescue. The '02 Report contains Youth Firesetting Intervention program facts and elements in addition to accumulated data from the past 12 years (almost 5,000 program participants). General statistics regarding juvenile firesetting are presented as well as typical characteristics of the juvenile and his/her adult caregiver.

Fire Interest Survey: Final Report. Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, College of Education, University of Oregon. http://www.sfm.state.or.us/

A 1998 Fire Interest Survey administered to 5,416 third through eighth grade students in 13 schools across Oregon. The outcomes of the survey provide an overview of the knowledge, behavior and attitudes of Oregon students with respect to fire, and document the extent of unreported children’s fireplay.

Overviews of the Issue • Community Programming
Educational Programs & Materials
Assessment Tools • Interventions