A family of seven was displaced from their home in the 6000 block of East 21st Street after a fire was started by a 5 year-old child in the bedroom. Several calls were made to 9-1-1, including two from the residents, stating the bedroom was on fire. The family was advised to evacuate the home and all were outside as fire crews arrived.
There was heavy smoke and fire showing from a bedroom window upon arrival and the first crew on scene, the ladder truck, ensured everyone was out safely but was told one dog was still inside. The first engine arrived on scene and pulled a hose line into the house through the front door to search for the dog and make their way to the bedroom.
Visibility was limited so the ladder crew on scene went to the roof and cut hole with a chainsaw. This helped improve the visibility for the crew inside. While the engine crew searched the home, a second crew pulled a hose line to the window of the bedroom and performed an exterior reset, a technique where water is directed in through the window and ricochets off the ceiling, thus acting as a sprinkler in the room.
The technique extinguished almost all of the fire and the interior crew was able to put out any remaining flames when they got to the back bedroom. The interior crew was able to confirm that the dog was out and safe. Nine units and twenty-three firefighters responded to the scene and controlled the fire seventeen minutes after arriving. One resident of the home, a female in her 20’s, was transported to the hospital for precautionary reasons due to smoke inhalation. Red Cross was responding to the scene to assist the family.
A male and female in their 40’s, male and female in their 20’s, a 5 year-old male, and two females under two.
Fire investigators arrived on scene and determined that the five year-old boy was playing with a lighter under the mattress in the bedroom when the fire started. This is the second fire in the past week started by a 5 year-old playing with a lighter or matches.