A dog is being blamed as the culprit behind a fire in New Jersey home, which sent smoke billowing out of the house. But what did that dog do? Well, he simply turned on the stove.
The fire started around 5:17 PM on Aug. 29 in Lacey Township after a dog accidentally turned on a stove, burning the laptop that was sitting atop it.
The Forked River Fire Department quickly put out the fire and no one, including the dog, was injured.
While the situation may seem rather far-fetched, it turns out that this is not the first time that something like this has happened. In 2012, a dog accidentally turned on an electric stove, which set a box of apples on fire.
"It seems like a reasonable assumption, based on food that was on top of the stove and the dog having access to it," said Brent Hart, assistant fire chief, of the 2012 fire.
In fact, even PetSafe.net warns that pets could start household fires.
"It is difficult for many of us to believe that our pets can actually be the culprit when it comes to starting the fire," reads the website. "Fret not, fellow reader, simple preventative measures, such as flameless candles and removing the stove knob covers, can mean the difference between life and death for your four-legged pyromaniac friends."
The website continues on to offer nine steps to preventing your pets from starting fires, including obvious ones, like extinguishing open flames, and suggestions that are perhaps a little less obvious, such as making sure holiday decorations are pet friendly, especially if open flames are involved at Halloween.
Not only that, but if a fire is started, the website suggests a number of ways to help ensure your pet remains uninjured, including keeping your pet near entrances while you're away so that firefighters can easily get to them, keep an up-to-date list of the number of pets in the house by the back door where firefighters can see it, and consider a home monitoring system.
"Pets who enjoy the pastime of counter surfing can be the most likely candidates for turning on a gas stove," says PetSafe. "He gets on the counter, sees something tasty -- or even licking the grease from around the burners -- his paw slips and he accidentally hit the stove knob and turned on the gas burner. Something that you don't think about, but it really does happen."
Around 500,000 pets are affected each year by house fires, and it is estimated that pets actually start approximately 1,000 fires per year.
While this particular fire was quickly extinguished without any injuries, the fire could have quickly turned into a much bigger tragedy. It is for this reason that it is important for pet owners to take steps that prevent pet-related fires.
