Pyro Pooch: Dog Sets England Home Ablaze In Microwave Mishap

A husky is being blamed for accidentally starting a fire at its owner’s home in the UK. This happened after the dog accidentally flipped on the microwave with a plastic bag of dinner rolls inside of it. The owner was not home at the time, but noticed smoke filling the kitchen on his cellphone camera, and immediately alerted authorities.

The dog was not injured in the fire, but authorities caution that much more could have been burned than day-old dinner rolls: “Clearly this is a very strange incident involving the man’s dog, but it could still have been more serious,” Geoff Wheal, watch manager at Corringham Fire Station, said in a statement. Wheal also cautioned against using microwaves for food storage, claiming that children and pets can turn them on much more easily than we may realize.

Just How Frequent are These Furry Fires?

It’s estimated that dogs are responsible for a little over 1,000 house fires each year. Last year, in another high-profile canine-created conflagration, a gluttonous golden retriever set its owners home ablaze when it stole pancakes off the stove. Luckily, the home was connected to a monitored alarm system that alerted emergency responders who arrived at the residence within minutes and saved the day before much damage occurred.

In 2018, a dog in Washington pulled his bed next to a space heater, causing it to go up in flames while a black Lab in Connecticut jumped up on a gas stove to get an “unclaimed” slice of pizza and set the kitchen alight. These incidents are more common as reports suggest, and can easily lead to more tragic endings.

Authorities recommend puppy-proofing the home the same way new parents baby-proof their spaces to avoid these sorts of mishaps.