3-year-old playing with lighter blamed for mobile home fire

No one was injured in the blaze, which investigators are describing as an accident.

By KATHERINE BLOK

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 8, 2000

RIDGE MANOR -- A 3-year-old boy playing with lighters sparked a fire Wednesday that nearly destroyed his family's mobile home.

No one was seriously injured in the blaze, which was reported about 9:30 a.m. at 34986 Talisman Lane, a sheriff's report said.

Joyce Lynn Cumbie, 29, and her family were at home when the fire started but managed to escape.

Cumbie's boyfriend, Brooks Stanley, 23, was treated on the scene for a second-degree burn on his left shoulder.

Cumbie's son, Berry Wayne Cumbie found a cigarette lighter in a bathroom and used it to set fire to a mattress leaning against a bedroom wall, the report said. No specific information was available on where the lighters were being stored. The report also said the boy had earlier been playing with a large, barbecue-type lighter.

The boy's brother, Francis Sepe, 5, alerted his mother to the fire. The home, owned by Joyce Cumbie, was also home to her third child, Jesse Cumbie, 1. Joyce Cumbie told officials she did not have homeowner's insurance.

Officials gave the family information about the Red Cross but Cumbie said she might stay with relatives.

No charges will be filed in the fire, which authorities said was accidental, said Mark Sauls, an investigator with the state Fire Marshal's Office.

East Hernando fire Chief Danny Roberts said it took two fire engines, a tanker and aid from the Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department to put the fire out "within just a few minutes," although the fire was "fully involved when our first unit arrived on the scene."

Nearby buildings and automobiles were not damaged, Roberts said.

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