Boy accidentally sets lawn on fire with magnifying glass he got as Christmas present, mother says
A 12-year-old boy named Cayden was experimenting with his new magnifying glass outside his Texas home on Christmas Day when the day took an unexpected turn. He accidentally lit his lawn on fire, according to a Facebook post from his mother.
"Christmas Day was memorable to say the least!" Nissa-Lynn Parson wrote in a Facebook post explaining the incident. "My twelve year old son Cayden, who is an avid reader, very curious, and interested in science, asked for a magnifying glass for Christmas. (It's like a basketball player asking for basketball shoes.)"
After receiving the gift, he and his two brothers ventured out into the family's driveway in McKinney, Texas, to try to burn holes through newspaper with the new device, Parson said in the post. She added "everything was under control" until the boys came dashing into the house to tell their parents that a part of their lawn was ablaze and their Christmas lights were melting.
The mother of five said that she and her husband Justin "rushed outside to see the entire front lawn turning black!"
Christmas Day was memorable to say the least!🔥My twelve year old son Cayden, who is an avid reader, very curious, and...
Posted by Nissa-Lynn Parson on Thursday, December 26, 2019
The wind caught the lit newspaper and sent it flying onto the lawn, lighting the grass ablaze, Parson said.
"We grabbed buckets, Justin turned the sprinklers on, and I grabbed blankets to smother and trap it - before it could spread any more into the neighbors yard!" she wrote on Facebook. "What a sight to see - a bunch of people running around crazy trying to put a front lawn fire out while wearing matching Christmas jammies!"
The family was able to put the blaze out without calling the fire department and thankfully made it out of the fire unscathed, save for some melted lights and a scorched lawn, Parson said.
"It was an accident. It could have been worse but it wasn't," she told CBS News.
Parson also said in the Facebook post that, "instead of a tragedy it will now be a Christmas to remember! 2019- The Christmas the lawn lit on fire."
Parson added that she learned a Christmas lesson from the accident: "Never buy a magnifying glass for your son!"