Fire at House Blamed on Tots With Lighter

Oxnard fire investigators say children playing with a cigarette lighter started a fire that drove a family from their home Thursday.

No one was injured in the blaze, which was reported about 9 a.m., said Oxnard Fire Department Battalion Chief Terry McAnally. The fire caused about $100,000 in damage to the house in the 1500 block of West Birch Street, including $70,000 to the structure, McAnally said.

“At this point it seems the fire was caused by children playing with a lighter,” McAnally said.

Debra Montoya, 38, and her three daughters live in a couple of rented rooms at the house, said her mother, Lupe Montoya, 58, of Oxnard. It was Montoya’s 3-year-old twins who were playing with the lighter, authorities said.

“I tried to put it out and it blew up in my face,” Debra Montoya said.

She got the twins out of the house and all three escaped without injuries. Her third daughter was at school at the time of the blaze.

The fire destroyed two back bedrooms, part of the roof and a portion of an attached room, McAnally said. It took 15 firefighters about 15 minutes to contain the blaze, he said.

Lupe Montoya learned of the fire about 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

“I was scared for the kids,” she said, “but I was home with another granddaughter and I couldn’t get out there to see how they were doing.”

The local office of the American Red Cross assisted Montoya and her children with shelter, food and clothing after the fire, said Richard Rink of the Red Cross.

McAnally said it is unlikely the girls’ mother will be liable for the charges associated with putting out the fire.