mattseattle
Well-known member
18 pets in Tacoma survive fish-tank fire
By Sharon Pian Chan
Seattle Times staff reporter
The ballast in a 100-gallon saltwater fish tank malfunctioned yesterday in a house in Tacoma, setting the two-story home ablaze.
Like a scene from "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," in which a pet store caught fire, Tacoma firefighters discovered 18 animals and two more fish tanks in the house when they arrived. The animals included several ferrets, hamsters, a snake, a few iguanas, a dog and a cat.
Firefighters evacuated the hamsters from the first floor — where the fire was confined — but the rest of the animals were able to stay below the smoke that rose to the second floor. The ferrets, for instance, took shelter on the first floor of their three-story ferret condo.
Except for the fish in the tank, all the animals survived. The human residents of the house in the 6000 block of South Fife Street were not home at the time of the fire. The fire department estimates damages at $25,000.
"I'd never heard of that many animals" in a home, said Ron Stephens, deputy fire chief in Tacoma.
By Sharon Pian Chan
Seattle Times staff reporter
The ballast in a 100-gallon saltwater fish tank malfunctioned yesterday in a house in Tacoma, setting the two-story home ablaze.
Like a scene from "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," in which a pet store caught fire, Tacoma firefighters discovered 18 animals and two more fish tanks in the house when they arrived. The animals included several ferrets, hamsters, a snake, a few iguanas, a dog and a cat.
Firefighters evacuated the hamsters from the first floor — where the fire was confined — but the rest of the animals were able to stay below the smoke that rose to the second floor. The ferrets, for instance, took shelter on the first floor of their three-story ferret condo.
Except for the fish in the tank, all the animals survived. The human residents of the house in the 6000 block of South Fife Street were not home at the time of the fire. The fire department estimates damages at $25,000.
"I'd never heard of that many animals" in a home, said Ron Stephens, deputy fire chief in Tacoma.
