Children playing with lighter and paper cause $45K in damage, Wichita Fire says

Children playing with a lighter and paper caused a house fire in east Wichita on Sunday morning, Wichita Fire Lt. Jose Ocadiz said at a Monday news briefing.

When firefighters responded to the house fire at 942 S. Armour at 11:11 a.m. in the morning, crews saw smoke coming from a two-story duplex.

The department used “offensive tactics” and quickly got the fire under control, Ocadiz.

All the people in the home — two adults and seven children — were evacuated, he said.

The official cause of the fire is “juvenile fire play,” Ocadiz said. The children were playing with the lighter in a bedroom-area of the duplex.

The ages of the children were not released.

The fire caused $35,000 in damage to the structure and $10,000 in damage to the contents.

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 11:01 AM.