Preschoolers

Excerpted from Part 4: Special Issues - TAPP-C: Clinician’s Manual for Preventing and Treating Juvenile Fire Involvement.

Considerations

Preschoolers are more likely to be injured or killed by fire than older children, adolescents and adults.

They are at increased risk because of their poor understanding of the consequences of fire, limited ability to escape from fire, smaller body size and more sensitive skin.

They may play with matches or fire in enclosed spaces, such as under a bed, behind a sofa or in a closet where fires are more likely to start and more likely to spread quickly and where escape is less likely.

In addition, caregivers may underestimate their preschoolers’ capacity for seeking out and using fire-related materials, because they are perceived as too young to engage in these behaviours. Thus, it is important to view fire involvement by preschoolers as an especially high-risk and concerning behaviour in need of immediate attention.

Intervention modifications

Increased emphasis on parental interventions

Caregivers need to be made aware of the heightened risk for injury faced by their young children, and the need for them to take immediate and comprehensive action. Caregivers of preschoolers may need to be reminded that it is not developmentally appropriate to expect a preschooler to not touch fire materials that are available in the environment. Instead, it is absolutely essential that caregivers take responsibility for eliminating their children’s access to fire materials.

Because preschoolers are not usually in the community unsupervised, their access to fire materials is often limited to residential settings. Successful implementation of access restriction strategies in these settings can be very effective at eliminating fire involvement.

Since preschoolers may engage in fire involvement in enclosed spaces, it may be necessary to suggest unconventional interventions, such as removal of the closet door, removal of the contents of a closet, installation of a smoke alarm in the closet (or other enclosed locations of fire involvement) or putting a lock on the door to the furnace room or basement.

Cooking fires started by unsupervised preschoolers can be a red flag for inadequate, perhaps neglectful supervision by a caregiver. In such situations, the clinician should investigate other unsafe and dangerous behaviours secondary to inadequate caregiver supervision. Associated unsafe behaviours might include wandering, dangerous climbing, ingestion of chemicals or medication, poisonings and playing with unsafe implements such as knives. Involving child welfare authorities is often warranted in such cases.

Preschoolers’ limited understanding of fire, as well as their physical and mobility needs, require special attention to home fire escape planning. Caregivers should take responsibility for developing an appropriate escape plan to ensure their preschoolers’ exit from a house fire. Fire service professionals can assist with this escape plan.

Increased need to ensure that parents follow through with intervention

Since preschoolers are at high risk for serious injury and/or death due to fire involvement, it is important from a child welfare perspective that caregivers participate in interventions to eliminate this behaviour.

It may be necessary to involve child protection authorities if caregivers are unwilling or unable to follow through with interventions to eliminate their child’s fire involvement.

Simplification or elimination of child intervention

Depending on the developmental level of the child, it may be necessary to greatly simplify and/or eliminate the child intervention. For example, it is likely not appropriate to attempt the child treatment component with a three-year-old. Again, this increases the importance of comprehensive work with caregivers.

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