A family of seven was left homeless after fire struck their city home Monday night.

Children playing with a lighter accidentally set fire to a mattress in a second-floor bedroom at 607 High St., Battalion Chief Brian Klugh said Tuesday.

Smoke detectors alerted the family to the 8:25 p.m. blaze, he said.

Klugh said damage is estimated at $4,000 and was confined to the bedroom.

The family, which includes three children, is being aided by the Red Cross.

• A fire in Elizabethtown Borough Tuesday afternoon started in the chimney of a wood stove at 213 E. College Ave., a Friendship Fire Company spokesman said.

The blaze smoldered in a wall of the duplex for an undetermined time before being discovered by the homeowners, he said.

No one was injured in the fire, which was reported shortly before 3:30 p.m.

A damage estimate was not available Tuesday night.

Crews remained on the scene for about two hours.

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