A 10-year-old boy has urged children not to play with lighters after a fire reportedly started on a mattress and damaged his family's two-storey home at Lot 16-17 Overwinning Village, Greater New Amsterdam, Berbice, on Saturday.

Christopher Patterson told Ignite News he noticed the fire and alerted his grandmother.

"The fire went on the bed it started on the mattress, it's with a lighter. I tell my grandmother, and my grandmother tell my auntie," he said.
His grandmother went outside for a hose to put out the flames, but their efforts were reportedly unsuccessful.

"My grandmother they go outside for the hose, but the water didn't working," he said.

Neighbours then called the Guyana Fire Service, which received the call at 4:06pm and arrived four minutes later.

The fire affected a five-bedroom wooden and concrete house occupied by Cheryl Williams, Beverly Joseph and Chris Patterson.

Preliminary information indicated the fire started when flames came into contact with combustible materials, reportedly after a child played with a flammable source.
Asked what he did, Christopher said: "I ran outside."

He said the experience taught him a lesson about the dangers of playing with fire and urged other children not to treat lighters or matches as toys.
"Don't play with matches or lights because it may burn a house down," he said.

The family is staying with a relative.