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Rodent is Blamed for Dishwasher Fire

Rodents & Mice

Fire officials are blaming a pesky rodent that quietly stashed dog food in the back of a dishwasher for starting a fire that damaged a kitchen Thursday, The Union Leader (Manchester, NH) reports.

| August 6, 2010

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Fire officials are blaming a pesky rodent that quietly stashed dog food in the back of a dishwasher for starting a fire that damaged a kitchen Thursday, The Union Leader (Manchester, NH) reports.

"He must have been stealing the food for a long time, putting it away for winter I guess," Fire Chief Kevin Pratt said.

The fire broke out just before noon inside the dishwasher at a home at 13 Richard Court, and it didn't take long for firefighters to pinpoint the cause. Dog food was found piled up around a heating element, pump and a fan, which wasn't able to properly ventilate the dishwasher when it was operating, fire officials said.

Assistant Fire Chief Paul Hammond said the homeowners recently had a "mouse issue," so firefighters assume that a mouse, or possibly another rodent, was behind the secret stash of dog food.

Source: The Union Leader

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