Austin firefighters douse a mattress that was taken from a house on 301 Fourth Avenue SE Tuesday morning. — Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

A Tuesday morning house fire was caused by children playing with lighters, according to Fire Chief Mickey Healey.

“The kids admitted to it,” Healey said Wednesday morning. “We did a little bit of discussion about fire safety and the hazards of it.”

Austin firefighters extinguished the fire at 302 Fourth Ave. SE just before noon Tuesday.

Healey said the fire started in a mattress and was contained to the bed. The house did not have any structural damage, but the upstairs did sustain some smoke damage.

Jennifer Saucedo, one of the tenants, said her roommate lives upstairs where the fire started, but her roommate was not home at the time of the blaze.

Saucedo said she saw black smoke when she opened the door to the upstairs and immediately called 911.

“I went and opened the door and saw black smoke,” she said. “I never saw any flames.”

Everyone got out of the house safe, including two chihuahuas.

Healey said he spoke with the mother of the children who started the fire and gave her some fire prevention tips. He also offered further fire safety training at the fire department for the children.