Jefferson Fire and Police departments responded to two fire incidents at the same home in less than one week.

According to the Jefferson Police Department, both departments responded to a call of a curtain fire just after 7:30pm on Wednesday, January 24th in the 300 block of South Pinet Street. The fire started when a juvenile male tripped, while playing with a lighter, and lit a curtain on fire in the second-story bedroom. The fire was put out before the officer arrived on scene. Police Chief Mark Clouse tells Raccoon Valley Radio the officer was given permission by the father to speak with the child about the incident.

Then on Saturday, January 27th, the police and fire departments once again responded to another fire incident just after 2pm at the same home. This time a mattress was on fire, which eventually caused $25,000 in smoke and water damage to the home. The father was not home during the incident. However, when he came home, he denied officers access to speak with the two juvenile males. Clouse points out that anytime they want to speak with a juvenile, they have to get the parent or guardian to sign a waiver of rights, which in this case the father did not.

Clouse says they did a law enforcement emergency removal of the two juveniles, with the help of the Department of Human Services, and placed them in a temporary facility. Clouse notes they did this to help keep everyone safe, which was their goal in the beginning, and he didn’t anticipate any criminal charges to be filed. However, he adds that DHS may continue to investigate the issue.