Three teenage girls have been arrested after they were caught on camera laughing as they hurled a lit firecracker through the nursery window of a California home, sparking a blaze that destroyed a nursery being prepared for an unborn baby.

The shocking incident unfolded in Citrus Heights, near Sacramento, on June 30, where firefighters raced to an apartment after reports of a fire.

When crews arrived, they found a mattress engulfed in flames inside a bedroom.

Although firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control, thick smoke and fire damage ruined the bedroom.

That room belonged to expecting parents Anthony Cadena and Lellises Morgans, who had been preparing it as a nursery for their unborn son, Noah.

Surveillance footage captured the terrifying moments leading up to the fire. Two girls can be seen lingering outside the apartment before appearing to notice a security camera and pointing toward it.

Moments later, after spotting an open window, they peered inside, looked around the room, then lit a firecracker before tossing it through the window and running away.

A dog can be heard barking frantically as the explosive lands inside. Seconds later, the sound of a fire alarm can be heard.

Thankfully, nobody was injured in the fire.

Cadena told the station he had been at home playing a video game when his wife called to tell him the apartment was on fire.

He rushed to the nursery, where he found the room ablaze, and - with the help of a passerby - managed to slow the flames using a garden hose until firefighters arrived.

Morgans said she was horrified that anyone could deliberately target what was clearly a baby's room.

'Seeing someone actually do that to someone's house... they saw it was a baby room... just to see that these girls just don't care about anything... it's unbelievable, honestly, that they would do something like that,' she told ABC10. 

Anthony told the outlet that he was home at the time playing a video game when his wife called, telling him the house was on fire.

He found the nursery in flames and, with the help of a bystander, was able to contain the fire with a garden hose before first responders arrived. 

The family has now launched a GoFundMe to rebuild the nursery before baby Noah arrives.

'As they prepare for the arrival of their baby, they are now faced with the unexpected expense of replacing the nursery, baby essentials, and repairing the damage to the room caused by the fire,' the fundraiser reads which has so far generated $26,000.