HOUSTON (AP) — Warrants have been issued charging a babysitter with child abandonment after she left two young children alone in a suburban Houston motel room, leaving them to play with a lighter that caused a three-alarm fire .
Seven people suffered minor injuries in the Wednesday fire at the Motel 6 North just off Interstate 45 in Spring, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Houston. Rachel Moreno, spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office, said the two siblings, ages 3 and 6, were among the seven.
The warrants issued Thursday charge 31-year-old Tara Elizabeth Piccione with two counts of child abandonment with intent to return. Witnesses say she was seen returning to the motel with a pizza as the motel was being evacuated.
Piccione had yet to be arrested Thursday night.
