A four-year-old playing with a lighter accidentally set his house on fire in Barrow County Monday morning.
Steve Rose with Barrow County Emergency Services said firefighters were called to Willow Gate Way around 11 a.m. on Feb. 25. He said when crews arrived at the scene, they found heavy smoke and flames coming from an upstairs bedroom window of the house.
"The adult resident on scene immediately met fire crews and notified them that everyone was out of the home," Rose said in a press statement. "Crews quickly made entry into the two-story house and made their way upstairs to extinguish the fire. During the fire fighting operations, the floor of the bedroom collapsed into the kitchen below. No firefighters were injured."
Rose said investigators were able to determine the fire originated around a bunk bed in a child's bedroom. They were able to determine the child was playing with a lighter in the bed when the fire started.
"We are happy to report that no one was injured. Mattresses burn very quickly and produce toxic smoke the second they start burning. Since two small children were in the bedroom at the time the fire started, this could have been a tragic story," Rose said.
The American Red Cross is assisting the family.
