OXNARD : Girl Playing With Fire Destroys House

A 4-year-old girl playing with matches or a candle caused a fire Tuesday that destroyed her family’s $100,000 stucco house in Oxnard, fire officials said.

The girl started the fire in the den, Oxnard fire investigator Kevin Schroepfer said. “She’s real upset and scared about it,” he said.

Anicento R. and Maria L. Alva owned the house at 1312 Juniper St. Its contents, which also were lost, were valued at $25,000, Schroepfer said.

“Right now, they’re going through the house to see if there’s anything salvageable,” he said.

Maria, her daughter, Judy, and her 4-year-old granddaughter were in the house when the fire began just after 1 p.m. Maria Alva and her granddaughter were treated for smoke inhalation by Gold Coast Ambulance paramedics but did not require hospitalization, Fire Battalion Chief Waylon Simmons said.

The Fire Department received the call at 1:18 p.m. By the time the 15 firefighters reached the scene, the house was engulfed by flames, Simmons said. It took 10 minutes to get the fire under control.

After the fire, a charred couch frame and metal springs lay on the front lawn. “That’s what the rest of the house looks like,” Red Cross worker Mike Baird said.