A 7-year-old started a massive house fire as the child’s parents slept inside, officials in West Virginia said.
Now, the child accused of “intentionally” setting the destructive blaze is charged with arson.
Volunteer firefighters responded after 11 a.m. May 24 to a burning home near the town of Elizabeth, according to WOWK and WSAZ.
At the scene, flames and smoke towered above the damaged house, as seen in a dramatic photo the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department posted on Facebook.
Though two people suffered minor burns, deputies said, “everyone made it out of the home alive.” The 7-year-old was taken into custody and faces a first-degree arson charge, officials wrote, adding they wouldn’t share more details about the investigation due to the “sensitive nature of the case.”
Elizabeth is roughly 65 miles northeast of the state capital of Charleston.
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