BATON ROUGE  - An early morning fire on Washington Avenue was sparked by the homeowner who was using a flame to illuminate a dark area of the house, the fire department said.

The fire was reported around 1 o'clock Saturday morning.

Firefighters said the homeowner, who was not identified, used a lighter to look under his bed.  The flame from the lighter inadvertently caught the bed on fire.

The fire quickly spread to the entire bed and eventually the floor, walls and ceiling.  By the time the first fire truck arrived, the fire was burning up 50% of the home.

It took firefighters about 25 minutes to get the fire under control.  They were able to contain the blaze to the back half of the house.

The fire was ruled an accident. 

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