The tortoise knocked over a heat lamp, which caused a fire.
A 45-year-old tortoise inadvertently set his owner’s house on fire when he knocked a heat lamp which then caught his bedding on fire.
“This incident shows just how important it is to have smoke alarms on every level of your home – even if you’re not home they will alert anyone close by to the first sign of fire,” Gary Wain, watch manager of the Great Dunmow Fire Station in Essex, England wrote on the station’s Twitter page. “This tortoise has had a very lucky Christmas Day – he is 45 years young and will now hopefully continue to live a long and happy life thanks to working smoke alarms.”
After the fire was put out, firefighters found the tortoise amongst its burnt bedding and apparently found the reptile’s heat lamp caused the fire.
