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The 2008 Arson Awareness Week campaign will be observed from May 4-10. This year’s theme is “Toylike Lighters – Playing with Fire.” The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has partnered with the United States Fire Administration (USFA), the Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Fire Safe Children & Families Program, the International Association of Arson Investigators, and the Idea Bank to promote Arson Awareness Week and bring attention to this important issue.

 

Toylike or novelty lighters have been responsible for injuries, deaths, and accidents across the nation. Some local and state governments are taking action by banning their sale and limiting distribution. Children are attracted to novelty lighters because they look like toys.

 

This mistake has proven to be deadly. On September 25, 2007, 15-month-old Peyton Edwards and 2-year-old Breydon Edwards of Russellville, Arkansas, died after setting fire to their apartment with a motorcycle-shaped lighter.

 

Children are not the only ones fooled by novelty lighters. Beaverton, Michigan, resident Laura Fowler purchased a novelty lighter for her 4-year-old child after mistaking it for a toy. In 2006, a South Carolina woman shot herself in the hand while attempting to light a cigarette with what she thought was a pistol-shaped novelty lighter.

 

The NVFC hopes that Arson Awareness Week will bring attention to the dangers of novelty lighters. Stay tuned for more information about Arson Awareness on the NVFC web site at www.nvfc.org and on the USFA web site at www.usfa.dhs.gov.