A young child playing with fire caused serious damage to the family’s home at 2013 E. Seventh St., Monday afternoon.
    Wellington Fire Chief John Lloyd said the department was called to the structure fire at 12:43 p.m., Monday afternoon and found heavy smoke and fire from the southwest corner of the home.
    The family of Roy and Rhonda Smithback, including four children ages 2 to 8 years-old, were all out of the home when fire crews arrived on scene.
    Lloyd said crews immediately attacked the fire, which was started in bedding in a children’s room.  Although it was contained to that room, Lloyd said it was a very hot fire and the home had severe heat and smoke damage.
    Lloyd said crews needed to ventilate the home through the roof to get upstairs to check that the fire had not spread, “it was that hot inside the home.”
    Loss to the structure was estimated at $25,000 with an additional $10,000 in property loss. 
    Lloyd said the family does not have insurance.  They have been put in touch with the American Red Cross through the Sumner County Emergency Management team.
    The fire was under control within 25 minutes and extinguished within the hour with the assistance of two responders from Oxford and two from Mayfield departments.
    Lloyd said crews were arriving from every direction.
    Just prior to the call of the structure fire in the City, Wellington firefighters began responding to the call of a gas can on fire in the 900 block of S. Tyler Road. 
    Lloyd said that crew was called back to Wellington at the time of the structure fire, and Caldwell crews responded to the fire in the county.
    After the fire was extinguished in Wellington, crews stayed on scene until 2:40 p.m. doing overhaul of the property.
    Lloyd said while working the house fire they made contact with the Smithback family, inviting their child to participate in the department’s Juvenile Fire Safety Intervention Program.  Two trained specialists within the department are available to work with juveniles on firesetting issues.
    “This is something we take very seriously,” Lloyd said.
    However, that meeting did not get to take place last night, with fire crews on the run again that evening.
    Just before 5 p.m. the Wellington Fire Department was paged to assist South Haven Fire with an out-of-control burn located at 120th Street South, half a mile west of Hydraulic.
    Lloyd said crews responded with multiple units, but fields were too soft to get into.  With the help of a farmer, Lloyd said they waited until the fire approached 110th Street and extinguished the blazes at that point.
    Lloyd said it was reported a barn-burning had gotten out-of-control, but he is unsure of how many acres and what kinds of fields burned.     The fire his crews fought was a stubble field fire, he said.
    It was after 8 p.m. last night when the department’s vehicles and crews were again ready for response. 
    Adding to the busy day, at 1:23 p.m, with a full crew at the scene of the house fire, another call from the county came in — this time a non-injury rollover accident in the county, located six miles north of Wellington at the 500 block of N. Ridge Road.
    Lloyd said Sumner County Fire Dist. 9 out of Belle Plaine responded and worked the call.
    Just after 3 p.m., emergency crews were called to the parking lot of Wal-Mart to assist with an injury accident.                     

    According to police reports, the accident involved a vehicle operated by Samual B. Branham, 77, and a pedestrian Bret D. Anders, 16,  both of Wellington.
    Wellington Police Capt. Bill Upton said Branham was driving a motorized scooter in the accident, which did not harm the pedestrian.  Branham, however, was transported to Sumner Regional Medical Center with some injuries when he either fell from or the scooter fell over during the collission.
    Wellington crews were also preparing to make a non-emergency transfer to Wichita at the time of the house fire, but delayed that call due to the structure fire.
    Lloyd said they never did make that non-emergency transfer, which was instead taken by Belle Plaine.
    “It was just one of those kinds of days,” Lloyd said.  ‘Busy, but everything went well from our end.  Our crews did an excellent job fighting fire.”
    Lloyd said he never did hear the story around the gas can on fire, and will be checking today with responders near Argonia who he heard were also busy with fires yesterday.
    “It was a busy day all around the county,” Lloyd said.