Youngsters playing with lighter may be responsible for fire

By Andrew OBrien
| 4:00 a.m. April 1, 2013

The youngster set the fire with other neighborhood children, according to deputies.

Palm Coast Observer
News

An 11-year-old Palm Coast girl may be facing an arson charge in connection with a Saturday evening fire that began in a wooded lot in Palm Coast, deputies said.

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies, along with the Palm Coast Fire Department, responded to a fire in a wooded vacant lot across the street from 123 Pine Grove Drive around 6:42 p.m.

Deputies reported the blaze was about 15 feet in diameter with flames estimated at 20-feet high.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and the state fire marshal was notified to investigate.

Deputies said the father of the Palm Coast girl believed his daughter may have started the fire with a lighter taken from his garage. The youngster set the fire with other neighborhood children, according to deputies.

“We appreciate this girl’s father getting involved by letting us know what may have happened,” Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre said in a statement. “Our hope is that this child and the other children involved will get counseling on the dangers of their actions.”