Smoldering Cigarette Suspected in Fatal Fire

Careless smoking may have caused a fire that killed a 10-year-old boy in a Canoga Park house, Los Angeles police said Friday.

The boy’s stepfather, Pedro Miranda Carrillo, told police he had smoked a cigarette while lying on the living-room couch about 45 minutes to an hour before the fire, Detective Patrick Conmay said. Authorities believe the fire started in the couch, Conmay said.

Carrillo was treated for burns and cuts sustained Monday while trying to rescue the boy. A neighbor said Carrillo had to be restrained from going into the flames.

Jaime Guerrero was found dead in the living room of the house, where the fire broke out, Conmay said. Police began investigating after the city Fire Department labeled the blaze “incendiary,” meaning that it was the result of a human act.

“We did not discover any evidence of the fire being intentionally set,” Conmay said.

Investigators believe a cigarette smoldered in the couch, Conmay said. He said the couch’s sponge-like stuffing, “once it does become ignited, burns rather freely.”

Jaime’s mother, three other children, Carrillo and two adults who shared the rented Cohasset Street house, escaped serious injury, fire officials said.

In the confusion, Jaime became trapped when he ran toward the flames, Conmay said, while the others fled to safety in the opposite direction.