A GROUP of children are lucky to be alive after starting a fire which could have claimed their lives.
They broke into a disused youth centre, in Hartlepool, and started a blaze after piling up rubbish and cardboard boxes.
It is believed they escaped through a hole they made in the roof as the building filled with smoke and thick flames.
Two fire crews were called to the disused Brierton Youth Centre, in the grounds of Brierton Comprehensive School, after a member of the public raised the alarm on Wednesday night.
Station officer Barry Waites, of Stranton fire station, Hartlepool said: "It was only a small fire, but fires are unpredictable.
"It is just plain stupid and asking for trouble lighting a fire in a building, which you are not able to get out of.
"They are very lucky.
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