The Meridian Fire Department recently noted the growing number of juvenile fire-setters in the Treasure Valley.
In their informational brochure, Juvenile Fire-Setters, the MFD highlights the critical need to understand why children are compelled to play with fire. Data points to two types of children most likely to start fires: curiosity fire-setters and problem fire-setters.
Curiosity Fire Setters: Children aged 2 to 7 years are drawn to the sensory aspect of fire-setting. As the label indicates, these littles are eager to understand what fire feels like, sounds like, looks like, how it burns, and what it can do. The MFD agrees curiosity is a healthy tendency and characteristic for children to have. It’s when curiosity couples with destructive and life-threatening behaviors that it becomes a risk to the common welfare.