Juveniles present biggest problem for arson sleuths

Thursday, May 20, 1999 | 10:04 a.m.

About half of all arsons are committed by juveniles, says Clark County Fire Investigator Lloyd Johnson.

Arson is the focus of the 50th annual conference of the International Association of Arson Investigators, now under way at the Tropicana hotel-casino through Friday.

Almost 650 fire investigators from around the world are at the convention, sponsored this year by the Clark County chapter of the organization. The international group has 9,000 members.

Johnson, president of the group's Nevada chapter, is on the board of directors of the international organization, whose headquarters are in St. Louis, Mo.

"Arson has always been a serious problem," Johnson said. "The thing we're learning now is that 50 percent are committed by juveniles."

Kids curious about fire, kids with emotional problems and kids who belong to gangs set most of the fires.

"Pyromaniacs are few and far between," Johnson said.

Clark County Chief Fire Investigator Mike Patterson said there are generally two categories of juvenile arsonists: those who are curious about fire, normally younger children, and those who set fires out of anger, frustration or some other intent.

"Every child will experiment with fire. It's fascinating, warm, pretty," he said. "It's the ones that persist in it that are the problem."

After juvenile arson, insurance fraud is the biggest concern for investigators.

Often arsonists are copycats, such as those who burned churches in the Southeast four or five years ago, Johnson noted.

Advanced technology, such as computer programs that can re-create a fire scene, are helping investigators -- but so are less technical tools, such as dogs that can locate where gasoline and other accelerants have been used.

For the past seven years Clark County firefighters have used a dog named Josie, donated to the county by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

"ATF will train the dog and handler and give it to a local department, but when a call comes for something big in the region, they have to respond," Fire Investigator Wayne Brian said.

Clifford Mitchell, Josie's handler, said the pair have helped investigators in Los Angeles, San Diego and Bakersfield.

Josie and other specially trained dogs can save 10 to 15 man-hours in searching for the source of a fire.

"Without dogs, some cases would be extremely difficult," Mitchell said.

Dogs first were used in Connecticut in 1986. Today 47 dogs are in use by firefighters around the country.

According to the Clark County Fire Department's 1998 annual report, 361 suspicious fires were investigated last year with 227 of them -- 62 percent -- determined to be arson, causing a loss estimated at $4.4 million.

Of 27 arrests, 14 were juveniles, Patterson said.

To address the problem the Southern Nevada Arson Prevention Partnership, which includes fire departments throughout the valley, two years ago created the Youth Fire Setter Intervention Program.

Almost every chapter of the international association has created similar youth-oriented programs across the country.

Such programs take juveniles who have set fires and teaches them the dangers, not only to themselves but also to those around them.

"We set up an educational program for juveniles," said Patterson. "We show education material, give out homework assignments. Parents must attend, too."

For those with more serious problems, the juveniles receive court-ordered counseling. About 80 percent of the juveniles who go through the program are ordered there by the courts.

Patterson said the program has been successful, with only a 2 percent recidivism rate.

Classes are held the second and fourth Tuesdays at juvenile court, Patterson said, with an average class size of 12 to 15.

Sometimes if a child is in a crisis situation, Patterson said, emergency classes are held.

"The city and I have given them the same classes in an office because we didn't want them to wait two weeks," he said.