My sister and I sometimes skipped ballet class (we walked to the studio) and instead hid behind our detached garage, where we built a fire and cooked various things over it. We smuggled out the food to cook when we pretended to leave for ballet.

Not just boys do it, I guess.

My mind is blown by this thread.

A bunch of my friends (boys and girls) in middle school liked to melt and burn things but I was always too scared to.

Female here and yes. It was a big activity for my friends and I, lighting tiny little fires in our hideout spot. My cousin and I also did it but it got out of control once and that scared me straight.

No, but I vaguely remember my brother might have done this.

Not me, but my husband did. He had just come in as a war refugee, they were left at home with no supervision while his parents scrambled with paperwork and basic necessities, and he nearly burned down the house they were living in.

I'm female and we used to burn things all the time. The thing is, we lived in the sticks and had an actual firepit in the yard so we were able to do it safely. We also played with fireworks, etc.

The only time my parents stepped in was if it was particularly dry or windy. Otherwise they like a bonfire as much as anyone.

Yes, I did. It was something my friends and I enjoyed (Female here). But they were stupid and one almost caught the woods on fire. Then there was the time one almost caught the house on fire. That was the end of our fire stage.

Making miniblowtorches with a lighter and hairspray? Yes. Lighting matches just to watch them burn? Yes. Play with lenses and focusing sunlight? Yes. Fireworks? Yes.

I used to light fires with a magnifying glass. I always had the hose running nearby, but never had a fire get too big. These are the things unsupervised kids do.

Depend what you mean by 'start fires'. I'm female, btw. I used to play with fire in my room when I was bored. I had a plastic lap desk and would make little puddles of hair spray or nail polish remover and light them. Or drip candle wax/ light incense, etc. I was just bored. I never set any actual place or thing on fire, nor did I desire to. I'm probably lucky I didn't accidentally, though.

To me, setting fires is like purposely torching your neighbors old shed or otherwise doing it to be destructive in some way.

Yikes. No! Just campfires in Girl Scouts.

No, but a couple boys on the street did. Acres of woods went up in flames and nearly took out six houses in the neighborhood. I remember we all went walking through the burned woods when it was deemed safe again and found the skulls and bones of animals that had died in the fire. It made quite the impression on all of us and no one played with fire again.

Yes, both my brothers did. So did their friends. One of them lit a fire that caught the field near the school on fire. Fortunately, the school didn't burn.

I was at a family breakfast and learned that 2 of my brothers, a male cousin, and an uncle all went through a period of setting fires as a kid. They were all 'good' kids, all gainfully employed as adults. I had no idea it was so common! I've got 2 boys and let my tween stay home alone for a few hours here and there. I can't imagine that he would start a fire, but I never knew how common it was. How would you prevent this? Let them start fires under supervision so they can see what it's like? Kind of like a boy scouts approach without the boy scouts?