A family who hadn't yet moved in to their brand-new mobile home now has no home at all after it was severely scorched in a blaze likely caused by fireworks, officials said.
The mobile home caught fire shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday.
"Neighbors indicate that there was kids -- probably about three to four kids -- outside just a few minutes before this playing with fireworks," Pompano Beach Fire Chief Richard Banyas said.
Zuoma Rossi and her family had just moved their furniture inside, but the power had not yet been turned on. They had planned to finish moving in Monday.
Witness Alex Gomez said he saw other children playing with a smoke bomb, throwing it and running off. Police questioned four teenagers, one of whom admitted to setting off fireworks in the neighborhood.
"We were playing with fireworks, but not the explosive kind," said the teen. "The smoke bomb, but not the ones that you throw."
Rossi, who was staying with her cousins down the street, took out an insurance policy on the home Friday.
The home has been deemed an unsafe structure by building inspectors. Damage has been estimated at $132,000.
There were no injuries reported and no other homes were badly damaged, though a home next door had melted aluminum siding.
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