A one-alarm fire set by a child playing with a lighter displaced a Marriottsville family of six Monday night.

Howard fire and rescue officials said the 9:21 p.m. fire in the 1400 block of Marriottsville Road caused $30,000 damage to the home.

Heidi Clark told fire officials that she was on the second story of her home Monday night when she saw her 4-year-old son running from an adjacent room. When she approached the room, she saw smoke and fire near the bed, said Sgt. Robert Wiseman of the county's fire and rescue service.

Ms. Clark escaped with her son and three other children before the fire spread. The Clark family has been staying with relatives since the fire.

Fire squads from West Friendship, Ellicott City, Bethany and Sykesville put the fire out by by 10:35 p.m., Sergeant Wiseman said.

Brian Eckoff, 18, a volunteer at the West Friendship station, was taken to Howard County Hospital, where he was treated for heat exhaustion and released.