Fire Safety for Kids & Youth
Juvenile Fire Setters
The Arson Prevention Program for Children
The Arson Prevention Program for Children (TAPP-C) is a program that involves professionals from fire departments and community agencies across Ontario. The program will provide strategies to deal effectively with a child's fire-play or fire-setting.
The program will also try to determine why the child has been involved with fire and whether he/she will continue to be involved. TAPP-C's goal is to reduce fire-play or fire-setting behaviour among children and to keep them and their families safe from fire.
We offer fire safety education training through our own Barrie Firefighters and TAPP-C fire-play /fire-setting risk assessments from local mental health agencies.
How can I recognize if my child is at risk?
Children who exhibit any of the following characteristics may be involved in fire-play:
- Keeps matches or lighters but doesn't smoke
- Smell of sulphur in the child's bedroom
- Toys or other personal effects that appear melted or singed
Why do they (the children) do these things?
Children who commit arson typically fall into one of three categories:
Angry or upset over something or someone
Children often have difficulty displaying their true feelings or emotions. Often, when they are upset with someone who is very close to them, such as a parent, they may not be able to explain exactly what is bothering them, yet they still need to cry out. Some children deliberately break laws knowing that they will be caught. Fire, because it has been introduced to them from an early age as a major taboo, is an easy method for them to work with.
Curious
Odd as it may sound for a grown-up, sometimes children do things just to discover what happens. They have no cruel intentions, they just want to see what happens when a pile of papers burn. In the majority of these situations, the child is certain that they are working in a safe environment and, if anything happens, then it was clearly an accident (in the child's eye).
Destructive
Some children do destroy things because they want to. They may find some form of perverse pleasure in watching other people's (or even their own) property disappear in a flash of flames.
How Does the Program Work?
The fire department TAPP-C officer will interview the caregivers/parents, usually at the fire hall or over the phone, to help them determine if the child needs the program. If a child enters the program the following steps will occur:
- A home safety visit by the fire department to assess the fire safety of the child's residence.
- The caregivers / parents will be offered the opportunity to have the child receive a Tapp-C assessment. This (risk) assessment will give the caregiver information as to the potential for the child to be involved with fire-play or fire-setting in the future.
- The child may be recommended to receive counseling.
- Two other visits (usually at the fire hall) with the child and caregivers / parents will occur. The child as well as the family is instructed on the dangers of fire-play or fire-settng.
Since it takes just one match to seriously injure or destroy, we strongly recommend that all families with children who display fire-play or fire-setting behaviours contact Barrie Fire & Emergency Service.
Safety for Students
Safety for Students - Mock Disaster Video.
Campus Fire Safety Video.
(A Parent's Guide to finding fire-safe accommodation for students attending college or university.
