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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A fire at the $6.9 million home owned by Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill was started by a child playing with a cigarette lighter in a bedroom, a fire official said Thursday.
“It was an accidental fire,” Davie Fire Marshal Robert Taylor told The Associated Press.
Taylor did not provide the age of the child, or the amount of damage caused by the fire. He said the investigation is now closed.
The house is located in Southwest Ranches, which is about 30 miles northwest of Miami, and was purchased by Hill in May 2022 shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs traded him to the Dolphins.
Miami television station WSVN showed a large amount of black smoke coming from the roof as firefighters doused the house with water. Firefighters appeared to be working on the highest parts of the structure. Many of the bedrooms, a home theatre and a den were among the rooms upstairs, according to the property listing.
Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told reporters gathered outside the house on Wednesday that some family members were home at the time of the fire.
“He and his family are safe,” Rosenhaus said. “No one was injured No. 1, no pets, so for that, we’re very grateful. We’re very grateful to the firefighters that put the fire out. Thankfully, the fire was contained to a limited area in the home. Obviously, there’ll be some smoke and water damage. It’s very difficult for anybody obviously to have your home catch on fire, but Tyreek was handling it, he and his family, with as much poise as you could hope.”
Hill has not yet commented on the matter and was not at Dolphins practice Thursday.
Hill is currently the NFL’s leader in receiving yards with 1,717. He is the only player in NFL history to record at least 1,700 yards in multiple seasons. He is hoping to help lead the Dolphins to a win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. A victory would clinch the AFC East for Miami for the first time since 2008.
Hill’s teammates expressed their concern and support for him.
“You don’t think that it’s ever going to happen to you until it does,” fullback Alec Ingold said. “It’s something as a team, we’ve got to be able to come together and make sure that we can reach out to Tyreek and be human beings with him and make sure everything is squared away and we can do everything we possibly can to help our teammate.”
RAVENS SIGN RB COOK
Dalvin Cook is joining the Baltimore Ravens for a playoff run after being waived by the New York Jets.
The move, confirmed by Cook’s agents with LAA Sports & Entertainment to The Associated Press on Thursday, came after Cook cleared waivers and became a free agent.
NFL Network first reported the decision by Baltimore to sign Cook, who agreed to part ways with New York on Tuesday. ESPN also reported Cook will be first added to the Ravens’ practice squad.
The four-time Pro Bowl running back will be able to get familiar with the Ravens’ offense before the team opens its postseason during the AFC divisional round in 2 1/2 weeks. It was not immediately clear whether Cook would be available for Baltimore’s regular-season finale at home Saturday against Pittsburgh.
Baltimore is the top seed in the AFC and has the first-round bye, along with home-field advantage through the playoffs.
Cook posted a picture on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, of him and Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers smiling and displaying chains with the letters “LAA” for their shared agency. Cook also posted a purple heart emoji — for the Ravens’ colors — and a crossed fingers emoji.
The 28-year-old Cook had a disappointing season with the Jets, who signed the four-time Pro Bowl selection to a one-year deal worth $7 million — including $5.8 million guaranteed — during the summer. He’ll now join quarterback Lamar Jackson and hope to bolster Baltimore’s backfield.
The Ravens lost running back J.K. Dobbins to a season-ending injury in their first game. Gus Edwards — who has 13 rushing touchdowns — has been productive in short-yardage situations, and Justice Hill has contributed a bit more lately. But Baltimore could use some more speed at running back.
Rookie Keaton Mitchell was starting to provide that, but then he went down with a season-ending knee injury last month.
Cook’s role in New York’s offense never materialized after Aaron Rodgers was lost for the season with a torn left Achilles tendon four snaps into his debut with the Jets.
Cook was expected to form a 1-2 punch with Breece Hall, who was coming off torn knee ligaments last season. But Hall proved he was healthier than expected and produced immediately, leaving Cook in a backup role for most of the season.
Cook has a career-low 214 yards rushing on 67 carries and no touchdowns, and has just 15 catches for 78 yards — also career lows.
Cook was in uniform but didn’t play in the Jets’ loss at Cleveland last Thursday and had no touches on offense in the past two games.
He was released by Minnesota last offseason for salary cap reasons after ranking third on Minnesota’s career rushing list with 5,993 yards in six seasons with the Vikings.