Babysitter arrested over motel blaze

A woman was arrested Wednesday after she allegedly left two children alone in a motel before they started a fire, according to the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Tara Elizabeth Piccione has been booked into Harris County Jail on two counts of child abandonment, the fire marshal’s office said.

The babysitter was accused of leaving the children, ages 3 and 6, alone last week at the Motel 6 at Cypresswood and Interstate 45. The kids were playing with a lighter and lit bedding on fire, authorities said. The fire spread to the rest of the motel.

Seven people, including the kids, were hospitalized.