3-year-old boy starts fire at Fort Lauderdale home

1 taken to hospital for smoke inhalation

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 3-year-old boy started a fire Thursday afternoon at a home in Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale firefighters said the boy somehow started a fire at the home at 2510 NW 30th Way.

The boy's teenage sister said she heard the smoke alarm go off and ran to a bedroom to find the boy in his older brother's bedroom.

"I just got water and put the fire out but it didn't go out," Chakia Mattear told Local 10 News.

The boy's mother said her son was playing with a lighter that the family used to make s'mores last weekend.

Neighbors told Local 10 News that the family had just moved into the home a couple of months ago. One neighbor said he grabbed a hose to spray the home before firefighters arrived.

The home was destroyed in the fire, and the family is now displaced.

Both children were treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

The American Red Cross is assisting the family and putting up the mother and all her children for at least three days. Anyone who would like to help the family can email reporter Andrew Perez at aperez@local10.com.

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About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

Andrew Perez is a South Florida native who joined the Local 10 News team in May 2014.