MIAMI COUNTY — A father accused of allowing his daughter to play with flammable items, which led to a fire last week at their mobile home.
Jeremy Scott Slife, 42, is charged with child endangering. His bond set at $10,000 cash-only during his initial appearance Monday in Miami County Municipal Court.
The 13-year-old suffered “severe burns” and was taken to the Dayton Children’s Hospital, where she remained in good condition Monday afternoon.
Slife told deputies his daughter’s body was “engulfed in flames and that she was burnt pretty badly,” an incident report read.
The fire spread to a couch and then to the rest of the mobile home, the report read.
Investigators said Slife allowed the teen to play with a lighter and rubbing alcohol.
“Jeremy said that he cannot control the kids at his residence,” an incident report read. “(He) did admit to drinking a 22-ounce can of beer as they watched TV and his daughter played with the rubbing alcohol and a BIC lighter.”
Firefighters responded to the fire north of Piqua Friday in the 10,000 block of North County Road 25-A and arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the mobile home.
A woman who called Miami County 9-1-1 told an emergency dispatcher a trailer next to hers was on fire and she had to get dressed and gather all her animals before leaving.
"There’s a fire next door!" the woman told the emergency dispatcher. “Please hurry! It’s next to my trailer. My house will burn down!”
Two adults and six children were displaced, according to the call-for-service document on the incident, from Miami County Communication Center in Troy. The American Red Cross was called to assist the family.
