River Valley Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program

The River Valley Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention Coalition is a non-profit educational organization and is comprised of a consortium of professionals from the mental health, criminal justice and fire service communities, dedicated to the identification and treatment of child and adolescent fire setting behavior through the delivery of the RVJFS F*I*R*E Program.

What is the F*I*R*E Program?
Firesetter Intervention Response & Education

The River Valley Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention Program's F*I*R*E Curriculum is committed to the identification & treatment of firesetting behavior in the adolescent and juvenile environment.

Started as a program to augment and enhance the already successful 'Massachusetts State Wide Coalition for Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program', our F*I*R*E Program has evolved into a very unique and successful program that is now a 'stand-alone' curriculum for identifying and treating the child and adolescent firesetter.

This program was developed with the added hope that a successful distinction could be realized between the traditional Fire Prevention Programs currently being delivered to children in the schools, and the Fire Intervention Programs that we offer to children and adolescents already involved in negative fire activities.

Some of the reasons our program is so successful

'Hands-On' Style of Instruction is interesting and makes the students want to learn.

'Live' demonstrations & participation, focusing on the child's individual interest in fire.

The F*I*R*E Program has an extremely high success rate! This is due in part to the fact that we believe training should not focus solely on fire setting, but should also project a feeling of trust between the instructor & student. Listening is an important skill for the instructor as well as the student!

What we do for the child fire setter - A Brief Overview

Determine the suitability of the child for this type of treatment through an evaluation with a licensed mental health clinician and fire personnel.
Determine the child's acceptance for this type of treatment.
Involvement of the child in their own treatment by the means of 'empowerment'.
Classroom sessions including information on basic fire science, home escape plans, home fire safety & prevention and the appropriate use of fire.
Hands-on sessions including fire extinguisher use, handling charged fire hoses, understanding & using firefighter's gear, understanding and putting to use the lessons learned in the classroom about fire science.
'Live' demonstrations including suppression of a small fire with the appropriate fire extinguisher, management of a large diameter hose line under full discharge pressure and the rescue of a 'victim' from a non-toxic smoke filled room while advancing a hose line with other team members in the group.