Pet lizard causes $20K worth of damage

[lmw80]

8O 8O

http://www.floridatoday.com/topstories/101404aplizard.htm

 

[frshwaterfinatc]

Oh, wow. Good thing my python can't reach his lamp!! 8O

 

[FawnN]

That is actually pretty sad that the couple had a good heart, took him in after Ivan hit and he ended up causing all that damage.

And what's really said is that he escaped the hurricane's but died in the fire.

 

[frshwaterfinatc]

geez, it gets worse and worse the more we think about it! Imagine how they must feel!!

 

[Menagerie]

Although rare, Gazillo said it wasn't the first time he has investigated a fire caused by a lizard and a heat lamp.

8O

BTW~Chewy is the cat and he's doing fine. The lizzard wasn't named in this investigation.

 

[cginflorida]

I read about that in the paper today. What a freak accident, and so sad on top of everything else.

 

[QTOFFER]

Yet another reason fish make great pets - they don't cause fires!
I have a friend who is a retired NYC fire marshal. He once told me about a similar incident they investigated.

There was anelderly woman who lived alone in an apartment with her cats. Apparently, her toaster oven was plugged in and one of the cats stepped on the switch lever while walking across the countertop. The oven melted the insulation off an extension cord that was coiled on top of it, causing a fire. The woman and the cats got out OK, but there was alot of damage.

 

[Toirtis]

"...large, orange lizard.." suggests a mature male iguana....ondr if that was what it was? Unfortunately, this is the sort of incident many insurance companies reference when denying reptile owners house insurance.

 

[Guest]

Yet another reason fish make great pets - they don't cause fires!

Well, here's my fish-fire story. First moved out of parents house, rented an old rowhouse in Baltimore with two of my friends, one of whom was also into aquariums. We set up an awesome fish room! Unfortunately, we did not take the dangers of electricity seriously at the time. Too many things plugged into one outlet, through a cheap multi-outlet extension cord.
One day a couple months later, during a work day, the cord caught fire. Cord burned its way up to the hood of a tank, burned up the plastic hood and all the non-wet parts of a hob filter. All the burning stuff fell into the tank and was put out. the heat also got intense enough to crack and break the glass, 29 gallons of water mostly spilled out, prolly kept the carpet from catching fire. Right next to a wall with cheap 1970's panelling, big scorch mark on the panel, but it didn't catch. At some point the fire put itself out, luckily. Very much smoke damage (have you ever seen plastic burn? heavy, stinky, nasty black smoke.) Wintertime, no smoke got out, fire dept. never called. We never got caught by the landlord! The place was rather a hole to begin with, so it was in the lease that if we wanted to upgrade stuff, we could call, get stuff approved, and deduct from rent. we had to super-clean the house, replace ceiling tiles, and paint the whole place. didn't cost us anything but a lot of hard work!

So, Fish CAN cause a fire! Though I know it was our own stupid fault, really.

A couple miracle fish survived, the tank broke most of the way, but there was maybe 2 inches of water left. A keyhole cichlid and some corys made it through!

Oh yeah, it was my roomies fault not mine.