13-year-old boy charged in Los Banos yard fire

A 13-year-old boy has been charged with inadvertently causing a large fire that spread over a front yard, damaging furniture and two vehicles last week.

The boy, who reportedly was playing with a lighter when he lit grass on fire, was arrested on suspicion of arson.

Los Banos Fire Chief Tim Marrison said the department responded to reports of a fire on the 700 block of Fairmont Drive in Los Banos shortly after 5 p.m. Sept. 20.

While firefighters were en route, reports came in that the fire was spreading fast across dry, dead grass in the yard.

The fire was quickly put out, but not before it consumed one vehicle and damaged a pickup.

Several pieces of furniture that were in the yard also were destroyed. Marrison said the owner reported that he was planning on discarding the furniture but was waiting on a transport vehicle, so he stored them in the yard.

Marrison said the damage totaled between $30,000 and $32,000.

During the fire investigation, witness statements led officials to two juveniles who live a block away, Marrison said.

“We had really good witnesses in the area who reported some juvenile activity in the area,” Marrison said. “If it wasn’t for them, it would have been difficult to determine who is responsible.”

Los Banos police interviewed the two juveniles at a residence on the 1400 block of Quail Street.

Los Banos Police Cmdr. Ray Reyna said one of the juveniles, a 13-year-old Los Banos boy, admitted to setting the fire. Police don’t believe the other juvenile was involved.

“It doesn’t appear he was trying to hurt anyone,” Reyna said. “It’s just an unfortunate incident in which he was playing with a lighter and he inadvertently caused a large fire.”

Reyna said the boy told police he found a lighter while walking home and started to play with it. He lit some grass on fire at the Fairmont Drive residence. When it started to spread, he got scared and ran away.

Marrison said it was important for residents to maintain and water grass in accordance with city ordinances to minimize the fire risk.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 1:52 PM with the headline "13-year-old boy charged in Los Banos yard fire."