Boys mistakenly use gasoline to douse deadly Massachusetts fire

HYANNIS, Mass. -- Authorities investigating a fire that killed an 8-year-old Massachusetts boy say a child was playing with a lighter inside a shed that apparently contained gasoline for a lawnmower.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe on Tuesday identified the victim of the Hyannis fire as Savvas Yianasmidis.

O'Keefe says Savvas was in the shed on Monday playing on a laptop with two friends, both age 8. He says one of the boys was playing with a lighter.

One of the boys told CBS Boston they made a $100 dare for $100 to set a piece of paper on fire using a kitchen lighter.

When the paper caught fire, the children attempted to douse it with water, the witness said. But the liquid they poured on it turned out to be gasoline, which caused fire to spread rapidly.

As flames began to spread, the boy said the two others jumped over the fire to escape from the shed.

But according to the witness, Yianasmidis did not want to jump, and it was too hot inside for anyone to go back in and rescue him.

Neighbors tried using a garden hose to extinguish the fire. By the time firefighters arrived, the 8-foot-by-12-foot shed was engulfed in flames.

State fire Marshal Stephen Coan called the blaze a horrific and tragic accident. It remains under investigation.