FAMILY HOMELESS AFTER FIRE; SYLMAR BLAZE STARTED BY YOUNGSTERS' PLAY IS THIRD SUCH IN WEEK.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Staff Writer

A 6-year-old boy playing with matches started a fire over the weekend that damaged his house, one of three such blazes ignited by young children in the past week, firefighters said Monday.

Two of the fires occurred Sunday. In the first, about 30 firefighters responded to a house fire in Sylmar set by a 6-year-old playing with matches.

The fire started about 8:30 p.m. on the first floor of the boy's house at 13988 Polk St., Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis said. Three of the five people who live in the house were home at the time of the fire.

There were no injuries but the family was forced to abandon the house, which sustained $75,000 in damage. About $35,000 worth of household contents were also destroyed, Collis said.

The American Red Cross is assisting the family with a place to live, Collis said.

In the second incident Sunday, a 6-year-old boy playing with a barbecue lighter set a sofa on fire in his home at 4827 Buchanan St. in Mount Washington. From 50 to 60 firefighters responded to the 9:05 p.m. blaze, which was extinguished in about 20 minutes.

The blaze caused $25,000 worth of damage to the home and about $10,000 worth of damage to household contents. No injuries were reported.

The two incidents were preceded last week by one in which a 5-year-old South Central Los Angeles girl playing with matches accidentally set her home on fire, causing the death of her 17-month-old sister. The children's mother was next door borrowing a diaper from a neighbor, Collis said.

City fire officials said they are seeing a growing number of fires set by children despite consumer protection laws that require lighters to feature child resistant mechanisms.

``There hasn't been a decrease,'' said Susan Jensen, coordinator of the LAFD's Stop Adolescent Fire Setting with Education program.

Many lighters, especially novelty ones, lack child-resistant features, Jensen said. But even ones that do have such protections are easy for children to bypass.

``If a child wants to light a fire they can get past the child safety features,'' Jensen said. ``They're easy to bypass. We've had 3- and 4-year-olds say it's easy.''

In an effort to educate children about the dangers of playing with fire, the department offers an outreach program for Los Angeles schools. It also offers the SAFE program for children identified as fire-setters, and their families. If needed, the children are referred to mental health professionals for further treatment.

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Map: House fire at 13988 Polk St.