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A seven-year-old boy playing with a cigarette lighter started a fire Saturday afternoon that left his family’s Signal Hill apartment unit uninhabitable and caused him, his mother and three-year-old sister to suffer smoke inhalation.

The fire was reported at 3:15PM Saturday in the 2400 block of California Avenue, Oliveros said. Two other units also sustained water damage, said Signal Hill police Sgt. Ricardo Oliveros.

“Officers arrived and saw smoke coming from the second floor of the apartment building and evacuated the residents,” Oliveros said. “L.A. County Fire Department responded and quickly put the fire out.”

It was later discovered the fire was started in a second story unit by a seven-year-old boy who was playing with a cigarette lighter and accidentally set the mattress on fire, the sergeant said. The woman and her two children, including the boy who set the fire, were transported to Long Beach Memorial Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.

Apartment management located temporary housing for the family while their unit is being repaired. The residents in the damaged neighboring units found shelter with relatives, he said.

City News Service contributed to this report