Fire Rescue News - Boy, 8, arrested in Atlantic City fire
By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 | 2 comments
ATLANTIC CITY - An 8-year-old boy was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with setting a fire in a North Carolina Avenue apartment that displaced four people, a fire official said.
The fire was reported at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Atlantic Garden Apartments in the 100 block of N. North Carolina Avenue, the same complex where firefighters rescued two boys from an Oct. 24 blaze, Battalion Chief Michael Mooney said.....Continue Reading
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Firefighters from Station One were in the area digging hydrants out from under snowfall when the call came in, Mooney said.
"They were able to respond there and get water on the fire within one minute, an amazing response time," Mooney said.
The quick response most likely saved lives, property and Christmas gifts, Mooney said.
An 8-year-old boy started the fire in a rear bedroom while adults were in another room, Mooney said. He was arrested and charged, but no further details were available about the criminal complaints. Six people were evacuated from the unit.
There were 24 firefighters at the scene, and they got the fire under control in 10 minutes, Mooney said.
The American Red Cross relocated a mother and two children, and another adult went to stay with friends, Mooney said. Damages were estimated at $20,000.
Posted in Atlantic_city, Breaking on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 8:15 am Updated: 9:04 am.
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Boy, 8, to get counseling for setting his house on fire in Atlantic City
By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 | 3 comments
ATLANTIC CITY — The 8-year-old boy who set a fire in his house Monday afternoon will spend six to seven months in a local Juvenile Firesetter program, the program’s coordinator said Tuesday.
Atlantic City Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Bell said the volunteer group of fire investigators will begin mentoring the boy in the first week of January and continue through the school year, assigning homework and visiting with him weekly.
Firefighters determined the boy set a fire in a rear bedroom of his family’s North Carolina Avenue apartment home about 1:30 p.m. Monday. No one was injured; damages were estimated at $20,000.
The boy, like many others in the program, will not face criminal charges, Bell said: “If you are charged with arson, that tag follows you through your life.”
A counseling program that began in 1987 in Pleasantville was soon accepting children from other cities, said Pleasantville Fire Capt. Charles Freeman, Bell’s predecessor as coordinator.
By 1999, the Atlantic County Fire & Arson Investigators Association had established a countywide nonprofit agency, which counsels 30 to 40 juveniles annually.
Children range in age from 4 to 17 and join the program for a variety of fire offenses. Some are youngsters who ignite a trash can out of boredom, others set fires as part of gang initiation, Bell said. In the western part of the county, many offenses are brush fires.
Some children are referred as part of their criminal probation, others are sent by the Division of Youth and Family Services or their school system.
The program lasts at least five weeks for everyone. Children are shown dramatic pictures and video of fires and living fire victims, taught to inspect their homes for fire safety, taken on tours of firehouses and set up with counseling at AtlantiCare Behavioral Health. At the end of the program, they write essays about what they have learned.
“We teach them the ramifications of it. We teach them the danger that can happen from it. We involve the entire family,” Bell said. “We don’t come at them with anger; we understand what they did, and we make sure they understand.”
Bell and Freeman both cited the program’s high success rate.
“I would like to say we have about 95 percent of our children never come back again,” Freeman said.
Contact Eric Scott Campbell:
609-272-7227
Posted in Atlantic_city, Atlantic, Top_three on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 6:00 am Updated: 6:47 am.
