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Fire reportedly started by 7-year-old damages house
Boy reportedly lit paper, threw it on sofa
Hville house fire
Firefighters work the scene of a house fire Friday night on Desert Shield Drive. The blaze damaged the residence, but no one was injured. - photo by Lewis Levine

A Hinesville home was damaged Friday night by a fire allegedly started by a 7-year-old.

 According to Hinesville Fire Investigator Ernest McDuffie, the child and his 9-year-old sister had been left in the care of their 15-year- old sister at their Desert Shield Drive home. While the teen was fixing her 9-year-old sister's hair, the 7-year-old boy reportedly lit a piece of paper on the stove and as the heat began to reach his fingers, he threw the paper on the family's living-room sofa, causing it to ignite. 

 The children escaped the residence uninjured, however the home did sustain fire and smoke damage.

 According to McDuffie, the children's mother was at work at the time. The Red Cross is assisting the family.

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