National Arson Forum campaign to focus on juvenile firesetters

National Arson Forum campaign to focus on juvenile firesetters

Noting that juvenile firesetters account for almost half of the arson arrests in the United States and that about six percent of these juveniles are under 10 years old, the National Arson Forum of the Insurance Committee for Arson Control (ICAC) has announced that this population will be the focus of its “National Arson Awareness Week” campaign to be conducted from May 5 to 11. The public-awareness initiative will include public service announcements, video news releases, and a media kit for local and national media.

Other Forum objectives for 1996 include the following.

The Statistics Panel will increase its participation in arson reporting systems, especially the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). We will “support training to improve the completeness and accuracy of reporting,” notes Robert Thomas, president of the National Fire Information Council, panel chairperson. He adds that the panel is also suggesting that the “NFIRS project managers course be adapted at the field level to better explain the need for, uses of, and benefits of the NFIRS.” Doing this, Thomas says, will assist firefighters in reporting arson.

Forum members will also explore ways in which law enforcement and the insurance industry can provide cause and loss data to fire services.

Among the objectives of the Government Affairs Committee, according to Chairman Stephen P. Austin, chairperson of the External Affairs Committee for the International Association of Arson Investigators, will be to support the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1994 and “to strive to keep the issue of arson and arson prevention before Congress by working the Congressional Fire Services Institute and others.” The committee also plans to include fire and arson communications in the “emergency lane” of the information superhighway.

At the state level, the Forum will work closely with the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud to seek reciprocity among the states for licensed arson investigators. Where necessary, model legislation will be drafted.

The Training Panel, chaired by Peter Beering, general counsel for the Indianapolis Department of Public Safety, will “seek to create a repository of arson prosecution materials by working with the National Fire Academy.” The panel recently published an updated version of Arson Investigator`s Bookshelf, a guide to the most comprehensive publications in the field of fire investigation. n

fort lauderdale dogs fire

Fort Lauderdale (FL) Firefighters Save Dogs From House Fire, Department Says

Firefighters pulled four dogs from a smoldering Fort Lauderdale home that was in flames just minutes earlier Thursday morning, according to the department.
MN Barn Fire

4,000 Pigs Lost in MN Barn Fire

A fire late Wednesday evening has resulted in a total loss of a hog confinement and the 4,000 hogs inside.