Fire starter program offered to child involved in Sunday apt. blaze

GREEN BAY, Wis (WFRV) Firefighters say a 4-year old was playing with a lighter when he caused a fire in a Green Bay apartment Sunday. The fire department has special protocol for dealing with incidents like these when a child is involved.

It was a rough wake up call for resident's of the East Side apartment building Sunday morning.

"I was actually asleep, and then I heard banging on the door saying fire, fire, fire," says Stephanie Holder.

Neighbors say, after the boy accidentally lit the bedroom mattress on fire, a relative was quick to act.

"She came outside, knocked on everybodies door, while she was on the phone with the cops, she acted right, she did the right thing, so thanks to here we're all safe," says Gilbert Cloyd.

Nobody was hurt, but the fire department wants to sit down with the boy's parents.

"We'll reach out to the parents and see if they want to take advantage of our juvenile fire starter program," says Lt. Nick Craig of the Green Bay Metro Fire Department.

Craig says, offering the program is standard procedure when a child starts a fire, and it can be mandatory in some cases.

"It's an interview process, and hopefully with the talk that we have with them and the child, we can prevent this form happening again," says Craig.

The fire caused about $30,000 in damage.

Craig says, in the end, warning kids about the dangers of fire falls on the parents. He says the fire starter program could be a turning point for those who learn the hard way.

"Obviously parents are very scared, they want to do whatever they can to prevent it from happening again," says Craig.