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NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah (AP) -- The state Division of Child and Family Services wants custody of a 5-year-old boy and his siblings following two house fires allegedly set by the boy.
A fire Monday destroyed the home in North Salt Lake where the family was living. The loss was put at $100,000. The boy allegedly started a similar fire in Centerville on April 12.
Carol Sisco, spokeswoman with the Department of Human Services, said the boy has been placed in an inpatient treatment center.
South Davis Metro Fire Agency Capt. Jeff Bassett said the fire was started in a back bedroom when the child was playing with a lighter and set a blanket on fire.
About 30 minutes before the fire started, a DCFS case worker had been in the home and everything seemed all right, Sisco said.
The division has been providing court-ordered supervision in the home since the Centerville fire, she said.
"We have had serious concerns about chronic negligence and chronic non-supervision with the mother and grandparents," Sisco said.
Three of the children are in the custody of the grandparents, David and Sarah Loftquist, who owned the home, Sisco said. The mother, JaCosa Lynn, has custody of her infant.
She was home at the time of the fire, Bassett said.
The family is staying with other relatives.
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Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
