Child Playing with Lighter Starts Apartment Fire in Temple

A man and two children are safe after escaping an apartment fire started by a child playing with a lighter.

A Temple Fire & Rescue crew was dispatched to the Willow Brook Apartments in the 500 block of West Avenue V around 4:09 p.m. Friday. When they arrived, they observed smoke coming from an upstairs apartment. The fire was traced to a bedroom where it was contained before beinge extinguished.

Fire investigators determined that the fire was caused by a child playing with a cigarette lighter. An adult present in the home was alerted by a smoke alarm and managed to grab the two children and escape. No one was injured, but the family was displaced.

In a statement issued Friday evening, Fire Marshal Jonathan Christian stressed the importance of keeping matches, lighters, and flamable materials away from children and out of their reach. He also expressed hope that this story would serve to remind people of the importance of having a working smoke alarm that is tested monthly and given fresh batteries each time clocks are set forward or backward for daylight saving time.