The dangers of children playing with fire were driven home Aug. 12.A vacant trailer in the Willow Park Greens Trailer Park was destroyed by a blaze started by children playing with matches and lighters.Shortly after six p.m. on the 12th, the Estevan Police Service and Fire Rescue were alerted to a fire in the northeast area of the park. Once they arrived at the scene, they found the back wall of the trailer completely engulfed in flames. Deputy fire chief Dale Feser said there were no injuries suffered by the children who set the blaze or to firefighters. He was quick to point out the situation could easily have had a tragic twist."The damage to the structure is secondary and can be fixed but the loss of a life because of (the fire) would have been tragic," said Feser."We want to remind parents to keep all matches and lighters out of the reach of children and to talk to their children about the dangers of playing with matches and lighters."Feser noted the fire started underneath the trailer. It quickly spread to the siding and went up into the attic structure which, combined with many of the plastics used in trailers, made it a tough fire to extinguish."Once it gets into the attic, it's a little bit of a stubborn fire to put out. We had to (use a chainsaw) to cut ventilation and access holes so we could stop the progression of the fire. That gave us a stranglehold on the fire."No charges will be laid against the children responsible for the fire.
