3-Year-Old Starts Fire, Destroying His Home

A 3-year-old playing with a barbecue lighter started a fire that gutted his family’s home Thursday, officials said. The boy and his mother were not injured in the blaze, but it destroyed the home in the 29000 block of Preston Drive, said Capt. Steve Miller of the Orange County Fire Authority. The fire started about 8:30 a.m. when the child ignited items under a bed, Miller said. The boy’s mother tried to put out the blaze, but the home’s fire extinguisher was not working, Miller said. Though firefighters controlled the blaze within 20 minutes, flames caused an estimated $200,000 in damage, investigators said.