VIDEO: According to Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District (TMFPD), in the past two weeks there have been five fires started by juveniles.
The fires are mostly accidental and caused by curious kids. Most of them don’t understand small fires have the potential to become big fires, especially if the wind is right and the grass is dry, like it’s been lately.
In an effort to reduce the number of fires started by youth, TMFPD, the Sparks Fire Department and the Reno Fire Department want to remind residents of a program -- it’s called the Youth Firesetting Program, to educate children who are using fire inappropriately. “They take a lighter, they take it to the grass just to see what happens, and they think they can stomp it out and it will go away, and before you know it’s turned into a five-by-five space fire and now we have to call the fire department because it’s gotten of control,” said Brittany Lemon, a Fire Prevention Specialist.