Sure, blame the tortoise...

[Bogertophis]

Sure, blame the tortoise. Officials say grumpy-looking reptile at fault for Christmas house fire in England

By Steve Almasy, CNN
Updated 6:17 PM ET, Fri December 27, 2019




The main suspect in the fire is a 45-year-old tortoise who appears a bit cranky.



(CNN)You'd think a 45-year-old would know better than to knock a hot object onto his bed.

But a grumpy-looking tortoise apparently named Victor is being blamed for doing that and starting a fire at his human's home in Duton Hill, Essex, in England.
Fire officials there say the tortoise knocked a heat lamp onto its bedding, which then caught on fire. The tortoise was unable to call 999, but neighbors heard smoke alarms and called emergency services.
Crews were on-call -- at home with their families -- and rushed to the station, then to the house.

They kept the fire to one room, and Victor, who must have stayed low to the ground in the smoke-filled home, was saved. And the fire was put out quickly.
A Christmas miracle!
"This tortoise has had a very lucky Christmas Day -- he is 45 years young and will now hopefully continue to live a long and happy life thanks to working smoke alarms," the fire department proudly exclaimed on social media.
Among the comments on the fire department's Facebook page were a couple from Elyse Steel Sowerby, who said the creature is hers.
He "goes by the name of VICTOR I am extremely grateful of all the crews hard work xxx," she wrote. Later she added, "I honeslty dont know what I would do with out him he really is my best friend your team are amazing merry Christmas xxx."
The department replied: "Ahh we should have guessed as much! You are more than welcome - we are just glad to have helped you get a happy ending this Christmas."


It also confirmed to another commenter the fire began when a heat lamp met hay.
The tortoise was unavailable for comment.

[Bogertophis]

This incident serves as a great safety reminder to always make sure lamps (& other appliances) cannot be knocked over by our pets. So glad this didn't turn out worse...owner (& tortoise) was very lucky!

[Aspen0122]

The turtle looks like he knows that the police know what he did...

[Albert Clark]

Wow! No mention of the owners of the tortoise being irresponsible and putting in motion the the factors that led to the fire. Inaccurate reporting/ journalism. The owners, the owners, the owners!