Family lucky to be alive after boy, 3, playing with lighter sparks house fire
A family is lucky to be alive after their house was gutted by fire, believed to have been started by a child playing with a lighter.
Alex Turner and partner Taylor Bonney, aged in their 20s, say they had just seconds to get themselves and their three-year-old son out of the house when the fire took hold in Perth's Safety Bay.
Sadly, one of their two pet dogs couldn't be saved.
The fire started at about 8am on Sunday morning with the parents knocking down the back door to make their escape.
"We barely had time to think," Mr Turner told 7 News.
"I was more scared than anything - I just wanted to get my boy out," Ms Bonney said.
Rockingham fire station officer Jan Szczygiel said, while his parents were still sleeping, the boy had found a lighter and managed to set fire to the lounge.
The boy then woke his parents unsure what to do, but by then the house was well alight.
Unable to find the key for the front door, the couple resorted to kicking down the back door.
“It was already through most of the house and up into the roof space, with flames issuing from windows and from the roof (by the time firefighters arrived)," Rockingham fire station officer Jan Szczygiel said.
All three of them were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
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The couple's three-year-old was kept in hospital longer than them for observation.
Fortunately, their two-year-old daughter spent the night at her grandparent's house and missed the fire.
The young parents returned home after being examined by doctors to try and salvage what they could.
"It can all be replaced," Mr Turner said.
As for their son playing with a lighter, Mr Turner said he has told him numerous times "it isn't a toy".
"But kids will be kids, especially a three-year-old boy," he said.
The damage bill to the property and its contents is in the vicinity of $250,000.
