3-Year-Old Boy Sets House On Fire And Kills Entire Family


A 3-year-old boy set his house on fire, killing himself and the entire family. The incident happened inside a mobile home on Thursday in Caribou, Maine — about 300 miles north of Portland.

Yahoo! News reports that Trenton Delisle set the home alight after he “set fire to items in the living room.” The blaze rapidly swallowed up the structure that ended the life of himself, his mother, and his twin siblings. State police spokesman, Steve McCausland, believes the fire was most likely started with a cigarette lighter. It’s unknown what exactly Trenton burned to result in the flames taking over the whole house.

Trenton died, as well as his mother, Norma Skidgel, 28, and his 2-year-old twin siblings, Mason and Madison.

State police spokesman Steve McCausland said the fire was likely started with a cigarette lighter. He said the nature of the items that the boy site afire was unclear. Investigators did say that the mobile home had some major safety hazards; for one there were no functioning smoke detectors and a back door was blocked by a large piece of polystyrene foam that appeared to be for insulation.

The 3-year-old boy’s aunt — Amy Bouchard — also lived at the home with her two children. They weren’t at home at the time of the fire. Bourchard extinguished a fire that Trenton had lit earlier Thursday morning. It was bible inside the stove. When the house began burning, she left to take one of her children to the bus stop. FOX News reports that Bouchard suffered smoke inhalation when she tried entering the mobile home.

State Fire Marshal Joe Thomas explains that juveniles being fascinated by fires is a huge problem.

“Juvenile firestarters are a huge problem in Maine and there are resources available throughout the state to counsel, educate and treat children fascinated by fire.”

Parents are urged to find help through these resources in an effort to aid preventing any children from accidentally setting their home or other structures on fire. According to Bangor Daily News, Thomas notes that in a study done by his office of fires in the state of Maine from 2001 to 2011, it showed that 2,531 fired were started by juveniles. Those fires caused 14 deaths, 115 injuries, and damage that amounted to more than $40 million.

The 3-year-old boy who set the house fire didn’t intend to burn it. It was a tragic mistake that killed himself and everyone inside it at the time.

An autopsy shows that Skidgel and the twin 2-year-olds died from smoke inhalation.

[Image via Yahoo! News]

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