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Pennsylvania FD Using Background Checks to Fight Arson Stigma
BOB REYNOLDS
WNEP
Reprinted with Permission
It seems we have been hearing a lot lately about firefighters being charged with arson, which raises the question, what would lead someone who is supposed to fight fires to set them?
Jim Caravan is an attorney but also a member of the Friedensburg Fire Ccompany.
"The fire company is looking forward to normalcy where hopefully there are very few fires to fight," Caravan said,
Four Friedensburg volunteer firefighters and one from Deer Lake are charged with being part of an arson ring and are accused of setting nine fires in Schuylkill County over four months.
In Friedensburg, new members will now get a criminal background check when they join the fire company.
"It may be a way to find if there are some potential problems with potential members. Granted it won't show a tendency to do something they haven't been charged with, but it's better than nothing," Caravan added.
West Hazleton's fire chief said criminal and child abuse background checks for new members have been the norm for years.
"We watch how excited they get at a fire or what their actions are at the fire or how much do they brag. That in itself is not an indication that they're arsonists but we watch those individuals," explained West Hazleton Fire Chief Robert Ward.
Dr. Cory Scherer is a professor of psychology at Penn State Schuylkill. He said young people willing to take risks and other factors may be why firefighters go astray.
"You can have what we call group think or group polarization. You have other people saying yeah that doesn't sound too bad, then you think, maybe it's not a bad idea and then you go out and it's a group mentality that says, it's okay as long as we don't get caught," said Dr. Cory Scherer.
Many agree there are no easy answers for the reasons for someone setting a fire, knowing that the fire could hurt or kill someone.
Copyright © 2010, WNEP-TV
WNEP
Reprinted with Permission
It seems we have been hearing a lot lately about firefighters being charged with arson, which raises the question, what would lead someone who is supposed to fight fires to set them?
Jim Caravan is an attorney but also a member of the Friedensburg Fire Ccompany.
"The fire company is looking forward to normalcy where hopefully there are very few fires to fight," Caravan said,
Four Friedensburg volunteer firefighters and one from Deer Lake are charged with being part of an arson ring and are accused of setting nine fires in Schuylkill County over four months.
In Friedensburg, new members will now get a criminal background check when they join the fire company.
"It may be a way to find if there are some potential problems with potential members. Granted it won't show a tendency to do something they haven't been charged with, but it's better than nothing," Caravan added.
West Hazleton's fire chief said criminal and child abuse background checks for new members have been the norm for years.
"We watch how excited they get at a fire or what their actions are at the fire or how much do they brag. That in itself is not an indication that they're arsonists but we watch those individuals," explained West Hazleton Fire Chief Robert Ward.
Dr. Cory Scherer is a professor of psychology at Penn State Schuylkill. He said young people willing to take risks and other factors may be why firefighters go astray.
"You can have what we call group think or group polarization. You have other people saying yeah that doesn't sound too bad, then you think, maybe it's not a bad idea and then you go out and it's a group mentality that says, it's okay as long as we don't get caught," said Dr. Cory Scherer.
Many agree there are no easy answers for the reasons for someone setting a fire, knowing that the fire could hurt or kill someone.
Copyright © 2010, WNEP-TV
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Allen on
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We have tried to get fingerprint checks done on all new firefighters but this is so closely and tightly regulated by the feds and subsequently an expense that we cannot afford. We currently do an in state check that costs us $8 per applicant. This can add up over a year if you have many volunteer and paid new 'hires'. Prospective police officers must have a full NCIC back ground check done. We need to include firefighters and EMS in this program so that we know who we are sending into people's homes and if they have a record in other states. A firefighter or medic must access the same areas that police officers need to go, so it only makes sense to require the same clearance for all public safety personnel. One day it will happen because it will be a reaction to something that didn't go right.
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