Texas Fire Officials Concerned About Young Arsonists
EL PASO, Texas --
Another teenage girl was charged with arson on Wednesday.
Investigators with the Fire Marshals Office took into custody a 16-year-old girl and charged her with arson of habitation. The fire occurred on April 17, 2009 on the 3500 block of Greenveil in Far East El Paso, officials said.
Fire damages were kept minimal by firefighters at the scene and were estimated at $200. The juvenile was later turned over to the custody of her parents after she was processed by investigators.
Arson of habitation is first-degree felony punishable by 5 to 99 years in prison and a of $10,000. fine. The girl was the fourth teenage girl taken into custody by fire investigators in the last five days. On April 17, investigators took two female juveniles, one 13 years old and one 15 years old, into custody on two separate school fires. On Tuesday, a 13-year-old girl was taken into custody for a fire on the 10,000 block of Georgetown.
But arson is not the only issue. There's also a number of fires that were started by children playing with fire.
Christina Thompson said she and her 3-year-old son are lucky they got out safely from their home at the Amberwood Apartments in the northeast. She said her son was playing with a lighter in his bedroom starting a fire that destroyed part of this apartment.
"I was telling him he's not supposed to play with lighters and matches and he seems to be doing a lot better now because I talk to him all the time about it. He has dreams about the apartment being on fire," said Thompson.
Thompson is not the only parent faced with this issue. As KFOX reported, the El Paso Fire Department has responded to 12 fires this year caused by children playing with lighters or matches. And in a matter of days, four teenaged girls were charged with arson.
"You're probably seeing more of it because these are harder times and it's affecting more problems," said Al Varela a clinical social worker.
Varela said sometimes fire setters are crying for help.
"They're troubled kids. They're having some kind of a reaction to the environment, to their feelings because they're having problems, whether it's at home, school their peers."
Varela said its important to have a mental health professional available to help fire setters deal with issues.
"Because of the category of children that are highly emotionally disturbed, there has to be some professional psychological assistance to help them and their families to resolve these issues," said Varela.
Currently, the fire department provides education and awareness to families of fire setters but they're looking to hire a mental health professional for a more complete fire setters program.