Firefighters Concerned Of Child Pranks Major Cause of Fires
Children playing with matches and lighters has become one of the major problems facing the Bomberos de Costa Rica - firefighters.

To date this year, there have been 10 fires reported caused by children playing with fire.

The latest occurred in a house in Escazú, where a boy playing with a lighter caused a fire that resulted in two homes completed destroyed and another partially.

Bomberos are asking parents to teach their young on the proper use of matches and lighters and to keep them in a safe place away from the young.

To fight the growing problem, the firefighters are taking their special fire prevention program to the local schools.

The major cause of fires in Costa Rica are first electrical short circuits, followed by fires intentionally set and then the improper use of candles.

Many of the downtown fires, that left a large number of people homeless, are caused by short circuits to makeshift electrical connections, especially in "quarterias" - homes or apartments converted into rooming houses - and older hotels, where there is no regular maintenance and inspection of the old electrical service connections.