L'HAY-LES-ROSES, France: Three teenage girls admitted starting a fire in a suburban Paris housing project over the weekend that killed 17 people, including three children, police said yesterday. A fourth girl was held yesterday morning. The fire in a 19-storey building south of Paris was the third fatal blaze in the Paris area in nine days. The death toll rose to 16 after a man died late Sunday in a hospital, where seven others were being treated for serious injuries. Three teenagers taken in for questioning on Sunday admitted having started the fire for fun, police said. Two of the suspects were 18 years old, the other was 16. Further details were not available. Witnesses claimed to have seen a group of youths who lived in the building start the fire, said Patrick Seve, mayor of the town of L'HAY-LES-ROSES, near Orly airport, where the building was located. The first is believed to have broken out in the lobby   of the building before raging up a stairwell at least three floors. Some residents jumped from windows as the fire spread through the building's entrance. Authorities were investigating possible criminals in an August 26 fire that killed 14 African children and three adults in a Paris apartment building. Three days later, another fire killed seven in a building. k*s*5u Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy suggested on French television on Sunday night that copycats   were at work. "Each time there is a new story, sometimes that gives ideas to people who then turn into criminals," Sarkozy said, promising severe punishment for anyone found guilty of arson  . Why did the teenagers start the fires?
They enjoyed playing with fire and not for any other reason. They wanted to make fun of their parents. They were not satisfied with the surroundings. They wanted to warm themselves.