Child Playing With Hamster Starts House Fire

The fire caused $10,000 in damage at 1395 15th Street NE Photo Courtesy: Bill Holmstrom/Salem Fire

(Salem) - Fire investigators say an unsupervised 3-year old child playing with a hamster caused a fire that resulted $10,000 to a Salem home Wednesday. Fortunately nobody was injured in the fire, but the hamster died instantly.

Salem Fire`s Bill Holmstrom says crews responding to the structure fire at 1395 15th Street NE Wednesday at 11:00 AM, found fire and heavy smoke coming from the front portion of the structure.

Firefighters made an aggressive attack according to Holmstrom, and stopped the fire just as was penetrating the living portion of the home.

Investigators say the fire was caused by a 3-year old girl who was visiting her grandmother. They say the girl was playing with a hamster in a cage that was sitting on a hot plate in the garage. The hotplate was plugged in.

When the little girl hit the hotplate switch, it ignited the hamster cage. Fire quickly spread to other portions of the garage.

Salem Fire Fighters want to remind the community it is very important to make sure portable heating appliances are unplugged when not in use. In addition, you should never set anything combustible on a heating element.