Apartment Fire Displaces 27 People

An early morning fire accidentally started by children playing with matches left 27 residents of an Anaheim apartment building homeless Saturday, fire officials said.

The fire almost had more serious consequences.

A 4-year-old girl, fearing she would be in trouble for starting the fire, apparently hid in a closet in the burning building, said Robyn Butler, spokeswoman for the Anaheim Fire Department.

After the girl’s mother discovered her daughter had not escaped, Butler said, a neighbor braved the flames to find the girl and rescue her.

All residents managed to flee the burning building without injury, Butler said. Firefighters had the two-alarm blaze under control within 20 minutes, preventing it from spreading to nearby structures.

Four apartments were destroyed and two were heavily damaged by smoke and water in what fire officials estimated to be a $300,000 loss. Red Cross officials stepped forward to house the displaced residents--16 adults and 11 children--in hotel rooms.

“It raises the issue once again--children mimic everything we do, whether good, bad or indifferent,” Butler said. “When they see us light matches, they want to do it too. It’s our responsibility to keep matches away from children.”

Two young sisters, ages 4 and 2, were playing on a patio of the second-story apartment where they lived with their mother. Butler said a charcoal grill and a propane grill, as well as other cans and containers, were among items on the balcony patio.

The 4-year-old had a pack of matches and managed to light one, dropping it into a container that may have contained a flammable liquid. When the fire started, the younger girl ran into the house to “tell on” her older sister, Butler said.

As flames spread, the girls’ mother tried to call 911 operators, but the heat and fire blew in a patio window. She dropped the phone and tried to take the girls out to safety.

Later, firefighters talked to the 4-year-old and her mother about the fire, Butler said.

“The little girl could not say where she got the matches,” Butler said.