After children playing with lighters caused fires Monday at a house and an apartment, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services wants to remind you that October is Fire Prevention Month.
“Now is the time to make sure your home and family are prepared in case a fire breaks out,” Gwinnett County Fire Captain Tommy Rutledge said in a press release. “The more prepared you are and the more smoke alarms you have, the less likely you are to become trapped.”
READ | Need a job? Work at Gwinnett's only prison; hiring event Saturday
The first fire caused by a child playing with a lighter was reported at 1:30 p.m. Monday. When firefighters arrived to a home on the 800 block of Emerald Forest Circle SW in Lawrenceville, there were smoke and flames coming from the back of the building, a press release says.
There was extensive damage to the house's siding and insulation. The family that lived in the home was displaced by the fire, but no one was injured, according to the release.
The second fire was reported less than four hours later. Firefighters responded to the Heights at Sugarloaf apartments on Main Street in Duluth at 5:08 p.m. A fire in a bedroom was already extinguished once crews got inside; they found “smoldering debris” that they cooled off with a water-based fire extinguisher.
The fire, also caused by a child playing with a lighter, caused minor damage to some clothing and sent smoke throughout the apartment, the release says. No one was injured.
Like Gwinnett County News on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Stay up to the minute with breaking news on Channel 2 Action News This Morning
In other news:
About the Author
