Boy, 5, sets fire to family’s garage

LAKEWOOD – A 5-year-old boy and his mother escaped injury Friday morning when the youngster set fire to the family’s garage in the 600 block of Gray Street.

The youngster told West Metro Fire personnel he was watching cartoons on television when he found a lighter. While the youngster’s mother was upstairs, he took the lighter into the garage and ignited some lint he found near the clothes dryer, said Micki Trost, West Metro spokeswoman. Trost said the boy was out of his mother’s sight for no longer than five minutes.

As the lint flared up, the boy went back inside and told his mom he had seen “some

smoke” but before the woman could react, the boy ran to a neighbor’s house to tell him about the fire, Trost said.

The neighbor and the boy then returned to the garage and, when the neighbor opened the garage door, he found thick smoke and flames.

After calling emergency dispatchers, the two found the boy’s mother already outside with other residents of the townhouse building.

Trost said the garage was damaged extensively, but the remainder of the unit was only slightly affected.

The boy is too young to face criminal charges in connection with the fire and police said Tuesday they do not plan to file any charges against the mother.

The youngster will, however, attend a West Metro “Fire-Starter” education class.

“Hopefully he will learn the tools to make better choices when he finds lighters and matches … so that we don’t have another fire and he doesn’t get injured,” Trost said.