Crime & Safety
Crime Report: Dearborn Kids Play With Lighters, Start Fire
The following information was supplied by the Dearborn Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.
A Dearborn family had a close call with a house fire on Sunday, according to reports.
Police and fire were called to a home on the 7500 block of Steadman around 11 p.m. on Mother's Day on reports that two young boys had started a fire.
According to the homeowner, she was in her basement when she smelled smoke coming from upstairs. When she went into the hallway, her 6- and 7-year-old sons confessed they had accidentally started a fire in the spare bedroom.
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The boys told police they had been lighting toilet paper on fire with a lighter. When they threw the paper into a trashcan, it ignited other paper in the can and they were unable to put it out.
The boys' mother told police she was able to put the fire out, but not before it melted the plastic trashcan, as well as burned the nearby closet doors and blinds. Charring and smoke damage was visible on the walls of the room.
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According to police, Child Protective Services was advised of the incident.
For questions on the police blotter, email jessica.carreras@patch.com.