Children playing with lighter start house fire, officials say (VIDEO)

Children playing with a lighter ignited a fire in a south Wichita home Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The fire was reported at 7:45 a.m. at 4148 S. Hydraulic, a Sedgwick County dispatcher said.

The two children who accidentally started the fire are a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, fire Lt. Joe Evans said. Fire crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire, which caused $12,000 in damage to a mobile home and its contents.

The Red Cross was alerted to assist four adults and four children displaced by the fire. One man was taken to a local hospital for treatment of injures not considered life-threatening, Evans said.

The incident serves as a reminder that parents need to keep lighters and matches hidden or out of reach of children, Evans said in an e-mail response to questions.

“If kids have access to these items, it’s a recipe for disaster,” he said. “Parents and adults need to treat these items the same as they would a loaded gun.

“Put them up, lock them up, whatever it takes. Just keep them out of kids’ hands.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2014 at 8:20 AM with the headline "Children playing with lighter start house fire, officials say (VIDEO)."