While all things are possible, it is not probable. There are few true pyromaniacs in the world, adult or juvenile. A 6-year-old's unwillingness to listen to his parents and cease misuse of fire is probably simple curiosity and the fact that he/she doesn't believe something bad can happen.

Sometimes children misuse fire because something else is wrong. Maybe there has been a recent change in the home environment. Things like moving, marital problems, death of a loved one, death of a pet, or addition of a sibling can cause a child to act out. The child sets the fires because when he does, he gets attention or the stressful activity, such as parents arguing, stops for a while. When the stress factor is addressed with the child, the firesetting will usually stop. It is a good idea to use the services of a trained child psychologist for children who are stress firesetters.