Firesetting Intervention Scheme - South Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Are you worried about a child or young person playing with fire or involved in Arson? Then the FIS team can help.

We offer flexible tailor made programmes to suit the needs of the individual child or young person. For example if you are a parent or guardian worried about a child playing with matches or lighters at home we can make a one off home visit where we will talk to you and your child and show them the dangers of playing with lighters. We will invite you for a follow up with a visit to fire station if everyone is sticking to the Home Fire Safety Plan which we will design with you.

Or if you are a professional involved with a young person who has been either warned by Police for low level involvement in fire setting in the community or convicted for Arson then we have longer programmes which take place usually at the local Fire Station.

Deciding which programme to follow will be done jointly with family and/or person making the referral.

Our SAFE programme is usually 4 sessions but can be more if needed and is tailored specifically to the needs of the young person, depending on what they have been doing, e.g. car fires, grass fires, property fires. There is also the possibility of visits to our control room or meeting the Fire Investigation Team. We also have 2 trained restorative justice practitioners on the team and have used these processes successfully in a number of cases.

Our FIRESAFE programme is usually 10 sessions and is a structured programme that aims to address impulsivity and consequential thinking along with problem solving, alternative thinking, decision making and victim empathy through a series of thinking skills games and exercises. It can be used in more serious cases and can be written into pre-sentence reports for Arson or Criminal Damage by fire.

COVID-19 Modified Procedures

FIS is still taking referrals for intervention directly from families or agencies who are supporting children and families. However, due to Coronavirus restrictions, we are not currently carrying out home visits or visits to Fire Stations. A fire-setting intervention practitioner can provide information and resources directly to children, young people and their parents/carers and stay in touch via telephone and email to talk through progress with our workbooks. If you have video conferencing we can even get to virtually meet you! If alarms are required the practitioner will chat through a few options to get those to you.