February 24, 2014
Investigators believe children playing with a cigarette lighter may have sparked the blaze that destroyed a highset Queenslander at Ellesmere on Saturday afternoon.
“The family were very, very lucky that no one was injured. It could have been a tragedy,” Officer in Charge of Kingaroy Police Senior Sergeant Duane Frank said.
“But the house has been destroyed.”
He said that as part of the investigation into the cause of the fire, detectives had spoken to the children who lived at the house and examined the patterns of the fire.
Police believe the fire may have begun because the children were playing with a cigarette lighter in one of the back rooms.
The fire subsequently engulfed bedding and quickly spread.
The occupants of the house at the time of the fire were a 34-year-old woman, a 46-year-old woman, and three children, aged 4, 6 and 9. A 13-year-old girl was staying with friends at Nanango.
[UPDATED]
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