February 14, 2006

Boy, 8, burned friend

       An 8-year-old Center Grove area boy singed a friend’s hair as the boys used a lighter and hairspray bottle as a makeshift flamethrower, the White River Township fire marshal said.  Investigators say the 8-year-old has been involved in at least two other fires since he was 3 and want him to take a fire prevention class. He also could face arson and battery charges for the incident, which left a younger boy with a minor burn on his hand and scorched hair and eyebrows, fire marshal Eric Brown said.

         The incident happened shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday in Shady Brook Heights, located in Friendly Village mobile home community near County Line Road.  A resident in the mobile home park flagged down a police officer to report that a child was left home alone and had been burned by fire, according to a police report.  Sheriff’s deputies found a 7-year-old alone with two friends, brothers ages 8 and 6.  When the boys came over, they decided to play with fire, the report said. They used a bottle of hairspray and lighter to ignite a paper plate, grass and leaves around the area, describing the can of hairspray as a flame-thrower, the report said. The 6-year-old stood by with a garden hose to put out the fires, the report said.  At one point, the 7-year-old’s hair caught on fire, and he used his hands to stop the fire, the report said.  The boys were also less than three feet from a 100-pound canister of flammable propane gas inside a storage shed, Brown said.

         The 8-year-old was held for six hours on an arson charge, Brown said. Brown intends to ask the prosecutor to file a battery charge, which will likely result in probation and intervention, he said.  Child Protective Services has also been notified of the incident.  Brown said the 8-year-old has a history of setting fires. Five years ago he set a fire at the family’s home in Hendricks County and later ignited a backyard shed.  “He was apparently playing with a lighter and caught the house on fire,” Brown said.  The investigation is ongoing to determine the extent of the child’s fire-starting history, he said.  Brown wants the boy and his parents to take the fire prevention class so the department can determine if education, mental health evaluations or more serious intervention is needed, he said.  About 35 children and their parents have taken the class in its six years, Brown said. The program requires they talk with firefighters about the dangers of fire and watch a prevention video showing children who have been burned, he said.  “Most kids are curious about fire, but rarely will they continue after something happens,” Brown said. “Others are burning for a reason, and we need to find out what that is.”  Brown expects to finish the investigation this week and ask the prosecutor’s office to review filing charges against the boy, he said.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
  
   

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