Patrick Comer, the public information and education officer with the Lehigh Acres Fire Dept. explains the juvenile fire setting intervention program in Lehigh. He also discussed the dry conditions in the area and the possibility of wildfires. Photo by Mel Toadvine

This is the season that firefighters dread … early spring when there is little rain in Southwest Florida and often low humidity.

Add these things up and you have dry brush that will burn like gasoline if it is ignited.

“It’s very, very dry. In fact, the Dept. of Forestry has issued a red flag and that means there is danger of wildfire,” said Patrick Comer, the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue Department’s public relations and education officer.

“We get these advisories from the Forestry Department every day. And there is a fire index number that varies somewhat but in the 600s and above means if a fire were to develop, it could give us a lot of trouble,” he said.

“It has all to do with temperature, humidity, and the winds,” he said. “If you have days with no humidity which means a dry day with plants and foliage, and there are strong winds, a fire can become a major problem,” he said.

Comer’s job is to keep the public informed of the business of the fire department and to offer educational programs in the schools and to operate a Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program in Lehigh Acres.

The juvenile intervention program is an active one and doesn’t get a lot of publicity, but Comer said it one of the more important things that he does in his job.

The program is for children who are curious and fascinated by fire and may use matches or lighters to start a small fire inside a home or outside.

He runs the classes for these youngsters in hopes of teaching them that fire is dangerous, not to be played with and can cause consequences.

The youngsters that take part in the program are referred to him by the courts if juveniles are proven to have started a fire, accidentally or on purpose, and from parents who have found their children playing with matches and lighters and feel the class will be of benefit to them.

“The program is free, does not cost the family. Comer teaches youngsters in small classes or on a one to one basis

“If we can save a child from starting a fire that can cause serious damage to the lives of Lehigh and to property, we have accomplished our mission,” Comer said.

In a flyer put out by Comer and the Lehigh Fire Dept., there are four classes of juvenile firesetters. They include the curious firesetter typically three to 7 years of age who is curious and fascinated by igniting a match or lighter are not bent on destruction when they play with fire.

Then there is the troubled firesetter, typically between the ages of five and 12. For many children firesetting can be viewed as a symptom of underlying emotion of physical stress.

According to the flyer, these children often set fires as a way to act out anger, frustration, and feelings of being powerless and can be set off because the young person is not able to handle adequately a disruptive home life, divorce, alcoholic and/or an abusive parent, recent death of a relative or pet.

Then Comer noted there is the delinquent firesetter which is a youth usually in his teens with a history of starting fires. They set fires as acts of vandalism or for creating excitement and destroying property. These youths often have a history of anti-social behaviour, lying, stealing, truancy and drug use.

Comer said the severely disturbed firesetter are youths often who have along history of behavioral problems. The flyer noted that their symptoms usually fall into two major personality types label as “impulsive neurotic” and “borderline psychotic.” Many of these young firesetters are in or have been in state mental or correctional institutions.

Sometimes when a fire has been started by a child, the parents are given a choice as to pay for the loss the fire has caused or to enroll the child in the Juvenile intervention program. He said most parents choose the latter.

Parents who are interested in learning more about the program are invited to call the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District at 239-303-5318 and talk to Comer if they believe their children could get help from the intervention program.

There have been several smaller brush fires over the last few weeks but they have been contained. There have been a few house fires. A more recent one was unoccupied but the doors were open and electric was still on in the house, Comer said.

Fire Marshal Ken Bennett has asked for the help of the state fire marshal in one such case. It could be arson or it could have been an accident.

Whenever there is a fire in Lehigh, one of Bennett’s responsibilities is to find out the cause and if leads to an fire being deliberately set, charges are brought and the person is prosecuted.

Chief Don Adams said his department has become “more aggressive” with fires now.

“When we get a call that there is a brush fire or a house fire or whatever, we send out almost every thing we have (trucks, men, ambulances) and take an aggressive role to stop a fire from spreading.

“So far, we have been very lucky inasmuch as we have been able to control many of the smaller three, four and five-acre fires,” Adams said.

Interestingly enough, Comer noted that most fires that are set by children are mostly boys from single homes only with a mom. And in most cases, the mother is struggling to make end meet.

“These kids are mostly between the ages of nine, ten and 11. They are not bad kids, but too much time on their hands are are not always in the presence of their parents who is working to make ends meet.

“If the mother believes we can be of help because she has noticed or is suspicious that her child may be playing with fire, we hope she will call us. The child will not be punished. We will do everything we can to turn the child around.”

Comer teaches the kids that there are three ingredients that causes a fire to start – oxygen, heat and fuel and he let them know that in the wrong place after a fire has started, it can cause choking and even cause death.

“We teach them how to put out a fire that may get out of hand, such as in the kitchen in a grease fire situation. We show them how they can smother a small fire before it gets out of hand. The worse thing they can do is run out of the house with a flaming pan. There should be fire extinguishers in homes and every member of the family should now how to use them, too.

As far as running out of a house with a grease burning frying pan, just recently the man tripped and the fire spread fast, Comer said.

In the Intervention program, Comer said there are eight classes, each a half hour. We evaluate the problems with the mother and or dad or both. Since January, Comer said there have been at least a dozen kids who have gone through the program.

Comer also visits the elementary schools in Lehigh and usually during a physical education period, he haws 35 minutes to get across to children that is may be natural to be interested in fire but it can cause great damage to them and their families if not used properly.

He said children in the first and second grade know what to do if there is a fire, they have been taught to call 911. When you ask these kids of that age, they all know that number.

For older kids, Comer uses different techniques to get across his message that fire can destroy.

“We talk about what fire can do, why some kids start fires and then I ask them to do a 30-minute public service announcement like you see on TV.

At the next class, comer video tapes them doing their PSA and gives them a DVD to take home with them.

Comer noted that the rainy season doesn’t really begin in Southwest Florida until June even though there may be brief showers and storm prior to June.

“Those showers help a little, but if the humidity drops and it becomes dry, we are in the danger zone of have a fire. It be come from a spark from lightning without rain, from people not being careful when they are barbecuing outside or burning trash,” he said.

Currently there is no ban on outside burning in Lee County. Chief Adams explained that he and other fire chiefs in the area meet on a regular basis (They call it a “Five Bugle Meeting”) with forestry people and discuss the situation of dryness in the area. If they decide a ban should be imposed, then that information is taken to the county authorities which will pass an ordinance to ban all open outside fires.

“It’s always interesting that people from up north are not used to fires like we have even when it is dry there. Our dry foliage, grasses and other vegetation is like fuel and burns quickly and if it gets out of hand, we can have a major problem on our hands,” Adams said.

That is why he said the department has taken a more aggressive role in sending out more equipment and manpower to a reported fire.

“If the fire is a minor one and can be handled, then extra equipment is sent back to their fire station.

“We are going to do our best to contain any fire we are called to and we keep records of our response time and our men do well in getting to a location when the call comes to us,” he said.

“So far we have been very fortunate in the number of fires we have had. Being aggressive like the chief says is working,” Comer said.

The fire district covers an area of 143 square miles with area south of SR82 included, Comer said.

Comer also writes a blog on The Citizen’s daily Interset site at: Lehighacrescitizen.com.