A Southwest side home was heavily damaged Friday by a fire started by children in the home playing with a lighter.
Three kids under age 5 and two adults were in the home at the time. Everyone got out okay, with the exception of a cut suffered by an adult.
Five people were in the home when the children started the fire in the 1200 block of Butterworth Avenue SW.
The kids alerted the adults to the fire, and the grownups tried to put it out with a garden hose and then with an extinguisher. Never effort worked.
Smoke from the fire could be seen for several miles around downtown Grand Rapids.
