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Fire officials: Strong sunbeam sparked house fire

BoneheadNW

New member
Strange but true:
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- A bowl of water in the sunlight sparked a blaze that destroyed a part of a local home on Sunday.

Fire investigators said a partially-filled glass bowl sitting on a wire rack on the home provided optimal conditions for the sunlight to focus and eventually start a fire.

Investigators said the fire started at a home in the 17100 block of Northeast Fifth Street just before 3 p.m. while homeowners were away.

Neighbors noticed flames and smoke and called firefighters who doused the flames and rescued the family dog.

Damage is estimated at about $215,000.
Bonehead
 

RNE228

Bronze Member
Site Supporter
Had a friend with a similar thing happen. They caught it before there was damage though.

He had shaved while in the shower. They live in the country, and have a big window by the tub. He set he shaving mirror down. Got ready left for work ect. A couple hours later his wife called; all kinds of smoke in the bath and bedroom.

Turned out, he set the mirror on the windowsill. At just the right angle. Sun hit it, and concentrated a beam to some wood trim. Left a scorch mark on the trim. One of those 1 in 1 million chances, fluke kinda thing. FD though it was about ready to really take off. If his wife had not been home, probably would have.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Very unsual. I'm confused how a glass bowl with water sitting on a wire rack could start a fire. Was it reflection off the water like with the mirror mentioned above? Does the wire rack play any significance at all? :confused:
 

Tractors4u

Active member
Site Supporter
We had a fountain at work that did the same thing. It had polished metal/mirrored sides that the water flowed down. One panel had a small ding in it. The fountain was down for repairs for a while and the water was off. Sun hit the panel and when it hit that ding in the side it reflected right back at a tree 10 feet away. Burned a line into the bark. It happened 3 times before the flipped the panel so that the sun didn't hit that little concave ding.
 
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