It's a startling statistic which covers fires lit in homes, bushland and other locations.

And one firefighters and police are so concerned about, they are now working with young people to try and curb the tradegies.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) community engagement unit manager Michael Jay said young people usually light fires in their local area.

"We knew that if we hit that area there was a good chance we'd be knocking on that person's door and we could talk to their parents or we could talk to people who could see the activity in the local area," he said.

More recently in Dee Why, on NSW's northern beaches, a truck parked on Oaks Avenue was set alight five separate times between March 27 and April 16, the truck was removed after the final fire.

In the past three weeks, firefighters have been called to 11 deliberately lit fires amid roadworks materials along Oaks Avenue, FRNSW Dee Why Station Officer Jason Collits said.

"To date all of these fires have been small, involving mostly formwork, bunting being used to fence off council work areas, tarps and rubbish," he said.

Station Officer Collits said while a male was seen acting suspiciously at one of the roadworks fires, authorities don't know who is behind this latest spate of fires.

An interest in fire is common among children, FRNSW Senior Firefighter Dr Kamarah Pooley said.

Dr Pooley completed a PhD studying the youth misuse of fire in NSW and her expertise in the area has assisted firefighters in helping to target at-risk children.

"An interest in fire is developmentally normal for young people," she said. "It's not malicious or deliberate, it's just out of interest really.

"A lot of young people don't have a good understanding of the risks and consequences of fire. Couple a normal developmental interest in fire with a lack of understanding and under a lack of capable leadership or supervision then there's a high risk that young people will misuse fire. It's a behaviour that can cause serious ramifications and can get out of control very quickly."

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Dr Pooley said the 8102 fires across NSW are just the "tip of the iceberg" and she fears many more are started by children but their parents don't tell authorities.

"Around a quarter of all child fire fatalities are in a fire that the child started themselves," she said. "People think it's kids being kids, or it didn't cause much damage, or at the other end of the scale they're worried about the ramifications for the young person if they do report it."

A few years ago Dr Pooley was among a crew of firefighters who attended a house fire in which an eight-year-old girl died. "She had a history of misusing fire and her parents had no idea what to do about it," she said.

"There are cases where children have climbed on furniture or moved chairs to get on top of fridges to get matches or lighters because they're just so interested in them."

FRNSW is so concerned about the high number of fires being lit by children that it has launched a free fire safety education program for children aged 3-10 years. The program is in line with the Australian curriculum so can be taught in schools, but it can also be delivered to any group of children in that age range.

The workshops are designed on the back of evidence-based research and are aimed at reducing the misuse of fire and fire-related injuries and fatalities among children.

Freshwater Girl Guides is among the first northern beaches groups to take part under the guidance of FRNSW's Manly Station.

Dr Pooley said studies have shown that up to 80 per cent of young people self-report misusing fire at some point in their life.

"We try and educate them in a way that teaches them about fire safety education generally; we talk about matches and that they're tools not toys, they're tools for adults to use," she said. "We talk about camp fire safety, about bushfire safety as well as teach them about fire safety skills they need to keep themselves safe."

Dr Pooley urged anyone who is concerned that their child is misusing fire to contact FRNSW.

"There's no ramifications, the police aren't involved, it's not criminal, it's all about addressing the young person's behaviour and helping the household out in creating a safe environment," she said.

To book a fire safety education program for a group of children visit www.fire.nsw.gov.au/education or call your local fire station.