Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Boy, 3, Ignites Fire in Bedroom

A 3-year-old boy playing with matches ignited a fire in his parents’ bedroom Thursday, causing $25,000 in damage to the house, fire officials said.

It took 25 firefighters about 15 minutes to extinguish the 1 p.m. fire at the single-family home in the 45200 block of 23rd Street East in Lancaster, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Mark Savage said.

The fire damage was contained to the bedroom, but the rest of the house had smoke damage, Savage said. No one was injured in the blaze.

This was the third fire started in the Antelope Valley by a child playing with matches or a cigarette lighter in the last two weeks.

“We have had a few fires started by kids lately,” said Firefighter Jeff Lavato of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who helped put out the flames in Lancaster. “Kids playing with matches or lighters is serious business and can cause a lot of damage, injury or death.”