America`s youth target of National Arson Awareness campaign
“Target Arson–Don`t Get Burned” was the theme of the Federal Emergency Management Agency`s (FEMA) National Arson Awareness campaign that culminated during National Arson Awareness Week, May 3-9. The campaign targeted primarily the nation`s youth.
During the past year, four cities participated in the National Arson Prevention Initiative (NAPI), an arson prevention awareness pilot program: Macon, GA; Charlotte, NC; Nashville, TN; and Utica, NY. Joining the coalition this year were Los Angeles and Sacramento, CA; Jacksonville and Orlando, FL; New Haven, CT; New Orleans, LA; Baltimore, MD; New York, NY; Youngstown, OH; and San Antonio, TX. Among the events and participatory activities organized and developed by these 14 localities are the building of community-based coalitions to combat arson at the grassroots level, the establishing of task forces to investigate arson cases, the boarding up or demolishing of vacant and abandoned buildings, the developing of intervention programs for juveniles, and the campaigning for stricter code enforcement programs. The fire and emergency services community has organized events to raise public awareness during National Arson Week; schools and churches have also participated in the program. The International Association of Arson Investigators helped to prepare materials for the Arson Awareness campaign media kit.
FEMA Director James Lee Witt explains that by directing the campaign toward the nation`s youth, FEMA is “focusing a spotlight on a big part of the problem.” He adds that about 60 percent of all arson fires in the United States are started by individuals 20 years of age or younger and that 53 percent are set by youths under the age of 18. Witt points out also that there is a “growing link between arson and illegal drug activity,” noting that “preliminary results of a new study by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) suggest that between one-fifth to one-fourth of reported arson cases in major American cities are drug-related.”
The NAPI, a cooperative effort led by FEMA in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, was created by President Clinton in 1996 in response to a string of church burnings, primarily in the South.
According to FEMA`s United States Fire Administration (USFA), the primary goals of the NAPI are to create a national umbrella of recognition, awareness, and understanding of the arson problem in the United States; highlight accomplishments and successes of the four pilot communities under the initiative and embrace 10 additional communities as part of the coalition building effort; and promote the dissemination of arson awareness, prevention, and investigation literature and training materials via the National Arson Prevention Clearinghouse.
Among the resources available through the National Arson Prevention Clearinghouse are brochures, pamphlets, technical assistance, information on workshops, training, and grant programs. For assistance and information, call the Clearinghouse at (888) 603-3100 or consult the USFA web site at http://www.usfa.fema.gov.
