Father Burned After 3-Year-Old Starts Fire

A child playing with a cigarette lighter Sunday morning started a fire that destroyed her family’s two-story condominium and sent her father to a hospital with second-degree burns, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

When firefighters arrived just before noon to the home in the 11000 block of Radcliff Way, the child’s bedroom already was engulfed, spokesman Dennis Shell said.

Edwin Osorio told firefighters that his 3-year-old daughter had come “running down the stairs screaming” and pointing to her bedroom.

Fire blew out windows in both upstairs bedrooms, Shell said, and had spread to the roof by the time the 25 firefighters arrived. The blaze was contained within 10 minutes.

Osorio, 39, who was at home with the girl and her 10-year-old sister, was treated by paramedics and taken to Columbia West Anaheim Medical Center. His family told authorities Sunday afternoon that he would be transferred to the burn center at UCI Medical Center in Orange for further treatment.

The fire gutted the Osorio residence, causing about $60,000 in damage to the 980-square-foot condo and $40,000 to its contents.

Firefighters forced open the neighboring unit to check the spread of the blaze. The unoccupied residence had minor smoke damage.

The Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross provided the Osorio family with clothes and food and helped them find shelter at a nearby motel.