Category: dog accidentally starts house fire

On November 05, a family’s apartment was set on fire after their dog started a kitchen fire by accidentally turning the burner on.

Coeur d’Alene Press reports the incident saying that that fateful Tuesday started out like any other day.

Jessica Thomassen was home for a few hours with her dog, Harley, after dropping off her son at her mother’s place.

Thomassen then went to work at her business. But it wasn’t very long when she received a call from her neighbor saying that her smoke alarm was going off.

“I left work to check and opened my door, and that’s when all the smoke came out,” Thomassen recounts. “When I opened the door, it was just a wall of smoke.“

According to Coeur d’Alene Press, Harley immediately ran out of the apartment while Thomassen called 911.

The fire was reportedly put out by the time firefighters arrived, but the apartment was left with a “good deal of smoke damage”.

Eventually, the cause of fire was determined to be by the 12-year-old German Shepherd and Heeler mix.

Thomassen, calling the fire a “super freak accident” reveals, “What happened was, apparently, my dog tried to get the metal food container off the counter and knocked it into the burner and somehow turned the burner on.“

Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Fire Chief Chris Way tells Coeur d’Alene Press that it’s rare for pets to start fires, but it wasn’t completely impossible.

“We’ve had one where a dog knocked over a candle. We’ve had one where a dog hit a stove,” Way said.

Coeur d’Alene Press reports that, unfortunately, the Red Cross deemed the apartment uninhabitable.

Thomassen’s family is currently staying at a hotel while they search for a new home.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Thomassen and her family recover from the fire. You can help by donating here.