Your cat could burn your house down, South Korean officials warn after 100 fires

South Korean officials person a connection for favored owners successful Seoul: Beware, your feline mightiness pain your location down.

The informing comes arsenic the capital’s Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters estimated that much than 100 fires implicit the past 3 years were started by cats, galore of which managed to crook connected electrical stoves with their furry paws.

“Cat-started fires are continuing to beryllium reported these days," Chung Gyo-chul, an authoritative moving astatine the section told the Korea Herald. "We counsel favored owners to wage other attraction arsenic occurrence could dispersed wide erstwhile nary 1 is astatine home.”

According to the Seoul organization, 107 fires sparked by felines were recorded betwixt January 2019 and November 2021. Over fractional of the fires recorded were started erstwhile the owners were retired of the house, officials said.

Of the recorded incidents , 4 radical were injured.

Fire-starting pets are not conscionable a occupation successful South Korea: In the United States, astir 1,000 location fires each twelvemonth are started by pets, according to the National Fire Protection Association, though it remains unclear what percent of these blazes were started by cats.

Korean officials person recommended that radical region flammable objects specified arsenic insubstantial towels distant from their cooking devices, to forestall accidents successful the home.

And successful associated advice, the American Kennel Club and ADT Security Services counsel radical to guarantee their favored is incapable to entree appliances erstwhile near location alone, recommending the usage of gates and crates to incorporate mischievous animals. Experts besides urge removing stove knobs oregon utilizing protective covers to forestall fires astatine home.

While cats are often the purrpetrators of location fires, they are, connected occasion, the leader of the story.

In Canada, a feline woke up its owners arsenic their location burned during the aboriginal hours of the greeting successful February 2017. Officials said the carnal pawed its mode into the chamber and spot its proprietor connected the limb arsenic the occurrence took hold.

“A feline is being credited with alerting a household to a occurrence successful their location aboriginal this morning,” County of Grande Prairie Fire Chief Trevor Grant said successful a statement. “The household escaped the location without immoderate injuries.”

But cats aren’t the lone animals that person sent firefighters moving to household homes. On Christmas Day 2019, a 45-year-old tortoise successful Essex, England, knocked a vigor lamp onto its bedding and started a occurrence portion its owners were retired of the house. As heavy fume rose, neighbors successful the municipality of Great Dunmow made calls to the exigency services who attended the country and extinguished the flames - which were confined to conscionable 1 room.

The afloat individuality of the unnamed tortoise was ne'er uncovered, but Essex County Fire and Rescue Service described the carnal arsenic “angry” looking.

That aforesaid month, and besides successful the region of Essex, a canine that had been near location unsocial started a location occurrence by turning connected the microwave, which happened to person immoderate breadstuff stored inside. Following the blaze, officials warned radical not to store items wrong appliances and to guarantee fume alarms are installed astatine home, the BBC reported.