Anaheim : 2 Boys Blamed for Fire; Families Left Homeless

Two children playing with matches or a lighter ignited a fire that swept through an Anaheim apartment Monday, leaving their two families homeless, authorities said.

Both boys, ages 5 and 3, escaped without injury, as did their mothers, who were in another room when the blaze broke out about 12:25 p.m., Anaheim Fire Department investigator Michael S. Feeney said.

It took 15 firefighters “10 to 15 minutes” to extinguish the fire in the single-story apartment in the 300 block of East Alberta Street, Feeney said. Structural damage was estimated at $15,000 to $20,000 and was confined to one unit in the wood-frame-and-stucco complex.

Feeney said the fire was discovered by Bertha Padilla Martinez, who shared the one-bedroom apartment with her husband and two children and an unidentified couple and their two children.

Padilla Martinez, 30, initially told fire officials that the blaze started in a bedroom closet. But her 5-year-old son later told investigators through a Spanish-speaking interpreter that he and the 3-year-old boy were playing with a lighter in the bedroom, Feeney said.

“He said they took papers and laid them on a little shelf and lighted them,” Feeney said, adding that only the remains of matches, not a lighter, were found in the bedroom.

“Parents need to reinforce the dangers (of playing with fire) constantly,” Feeney said. “It’s hard to bring this home to parents because they often don’t recognize it’s a problem until something like this happens. . . .

“But if they have a child with an affinity for playing with matches, they need to let him know the possible ramifications if he continues.”

A spokesman for the American Red Cross said both families were given vouchers to buy food and clothing to get them by for a few days. Andrew Cheng said the four adults and four children were staying temporarily with relatives in the Anaheim area.