After getting magnifying glass for Christmas, McKinney boy catches his front yard on fire

quote:

---

A child's Christmas gift is part of what set his family's front yard on fire in McKinney. The boy's parents thought their son was going to use a magnifying glass for reading, but instead, he wanted to try and spark things on fire.

---

quote:

---

The 12-year-old said he was trying to use his magnifying glass to light newspaper on fire. When it actually happened, the newspaper fire spread to the grass, sending the front yard into flames and smoke within minutes.

“Cayden asked for a magnifying glass for Christmas,” his mother, Nissa-Lynn Parson, said in a video posted to Facebook. “We thought, ‘Oh, he wants to magnify something.’ No, he wanted to see if he can make fire with it, and they did."

---

quote:

---

"I just wanted to start a little fire," her son, Cayden, said.

"He came outside and he picked up the newspaper which had a little fire on it," Cayden said.

But it caught fire and Cayden's older brother, Ashton, didn't know what to do.

"The flame starts, so I picked up the newspaper and just kind of like throw it," Ashton said.

The fire spread.

"We ran inside and started screaming," Cayden said.

---