Firefighters from the Colorado Springs Fire Department were dispatched about 4:45 a.m. on June 26 to a home on the city’s south side for a reported fire, according to a Facebook post. The homeowners had alerted authorities of a “fire on the stove in their home that had been extinguished by one of the homeowners.”
Firefighters and rescue teams didn’t find an active fire when they got to the home and learned a resident had extinguished the blaze before crews arrived, the department said. The resident was hospitalized for smoke inhalation. No other injuries were reported.
But investigators found an interesting culprit when they examined surveillance footage from the home.
“After talking to the homeowners and looking through their home security footage, we determined their pup got a bit curious and accidentally switched on the oven which had some boxes on top of it,” the fire department said.
Video footage captured by the home’s security camera shows the dog jumping on the stove and sniffing the boxes before scampering away. Seconds after dog leaves, the boxes on the stove catch fire and the whole kitchen is engulfed in smoke.
If your stove can possibly be ignited when you aren’t home, don’t store combustible things on top of it, please.
Doesn’t matter what might set off the combustion - a short circuit, a dog, a small family member, a drunk family member…
Don’t store combustibles on your heat-emitting device. You’ll have a bad time.
Mine emits flame, and the only things I store atop it are metal (baking sheets and pans) or Borosilicate glass (like pyrex). But I’m looking to swap for an induction stovetop, because the gas explosion risk is enough for me to be uncomfortable!