A child playing with a lighter caused a house fire on Sunday evening.

According to Austin Police Chief Brian Krueger, officers responded to a house fire call at 6:55 p.m. on Sunday to the residence at 504 Third Ave. SE. The house’s residents, two adult men, an adult woman, and two juvenile males ages 17 and 9, had safely left
the house.

The woman told police that she saw a beanbag chair was on fire in one of the bedrooms.

The Austin Fire Department made quick work of the fire. Firefughters were finished and left by 8:39 p.m.

The Red Cross is providing accommodations for the family.

Austin Fire Chief Jim McCoy said the cause was determined to be a child playing with a lighter. He also said that fire damage was relegated to the bedroom where the fire started, but the first floor had smoke damage.

The Austin Fire Department is reminding residents to make sure they have smoke detectors with working batteries in their homes. McCoy said to test smoke detectors once a month and replace the batteries every six months.

According to the State Fire Marshal, 37 percent of fire deaths in 2016 occurred between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. Forty-two percent of the fire deaths occurred in January through April.

Also in 2016, the most recent year available for the state, most home fires began in the kitchen, 46 percent. Only 4 percent began in a sleeping area.