SCHEMES designed to get youngsters involved in the fire service, and subsequently reduce crime, have been labelled an enormous success.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) runs a variety of youth intervention programmes, including the Firebreak scheme.

This targets youngsters at key stage four level, aged 13 to 17, and aims to promote a culture of safety and citizenship by providing a range of vital life skills while also learning about various disciplines within the fire service.

Key aims include instilling a sense of self-worth and self-confidence, promoting teamwork, encouraging participants to respect differences between people, and urging trainees to play an active and worthwhile role in their community.

Between April 2006 and March 2008, 69 week-long Firebreak courses were run in Essex, with 822 students taking part. Of those, 92 per cent – or 781 – successfully completed the course.

All of the young people were chosen for the course because of a history of school exclusions, youth offending or associated disruptive behaviour or backgrounds.

The vast majority of students did not go on to reoffend.

In June, the Gazette revealed how Tyler Luscombe ran back into a burning house to rescue his friend Andrew Connor, 14.

The 15-year-old remembered Andrew was sleeping in a downstairs room of the home in Princess Avenue, Colchester. At the time he said the only reason he knew what to do was because he had taken part in the Firebreak scheme.

A number of the participants of the Firebreak scheme, go on to take part in the Young Firefighters programme, also run by the Essex fire service.

The scheme has been piloted at seven locations around the county over the past four years, including Dovercourt and Colchester fire stations.

It is aimed at 13 to 17-year-olds, who are nominated on to the scheme by their school, after completing the Firebreak scheme, or who might already be on the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.

The course has been devised after analysing youth offending in the county, and tailoring the course to reduce high-risk behaviour such as arson, hoax calls, attacks on firefighters and antisocial behaviour.

Donna McBride, youth development manager for ECFRS, said: “Helping young people is now an important part of the work carried out by ECFRS, and we have a truly dedicated team working with young people throughout the county.

“Firefighters are positive role models and can help young people turn their lives around and make real changes for the better.”



A TEENAGE tearaway, who had been known to the police for a number of years, managed to turn his life around thanks to the Firebreak Scheme.

The 13-year-old, who was originally from Colchester but cannot be named, was frequently in trouble, with his behaviour deteriorating from general nuisance to criminal behaviour.

In six months’ police spoke to him in relation to criminal damage, threatening and abusive language and behaviour towards members of the public, terrorising staff at a local supermarket, throwing water bombs at staff and the public from the roof of a supermarket, physical assault, alcohol abuse, and he was suspended from school.

After he failed to comply with an Acceptable Behaviour Contract, Essex Police contacted Essex County Fire and Rescue Service to get him on a Firebreak Scheme in July 2004.

Speaking after his passing out ceremony, an antisocial behaviour officer for Essex Police said: “On the day of the ceremony, myself and the PC were shocked to physically see the transformation in Student One and his attitude. He was keen to show us his portfolio, and I did not see him stop smiling throughout the whole day.

“The Firebreak Scheme took a lot of guts and dedication on Student One’s part, having to endure a week of very long days travelling each day. Since his attendance on the scheme, Student One has kept up with his excellent behaviour and is keeping out of trouble.”