fire

4-Alarm Fire Started by Child Playing With Lighter, Combustible, Officials Say

A 4-alarm fire caused by a 7-year-old displaced 22 residents early Saturday morning, Dallas Fire-Rescue officials say.

According to investigators, Dallas Fire-Rescue received a call at 12:49 a.m. from the Forest Edge Apartments at 11991 Audelia Rd.

When they arrived, they found a 2-story apartment building with fire coming from the roof. All residents were evacuated and the fire was completely extinguished by 2 a.m.

All 12 units of the apartment complex were destroyed. The American Red Cross was dispatched to assist all displaced residents. The apartment's security guard was the only person to sustain an injury -- minor laceration while alerting residents of the fire.

Investigators determined that the fire was accidental in nature and began on a second floor exterior closet. The mother of a 7-year-old boy told investigators that her son had started the fire by igniting a combustible and playing with a lighter inside of the closet.

The boy will be enrolled in the DFR's Juvenile Firesetters Intervention Program.

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