Monday 7 November 2011

Happy Monday - except for Goldfish

A ten year old piece of news but it may have escaped your notice...

LONDON (Reuters) - June 15, 2001 7:24 am EST - Firefighters on Friday blamed a goldfish bowl for sending 26 people to hospital in Britain. They believe the bowl may have acted as a magnifying glass which concentrated the sun's rays and set light to a garden shed containing a rat-catcher's potentially noxious chemicals. The sun's rays are believed to have entered one shed where the goldfish were kept and then passed through to another where chemicals were stored. The tablets of aluminium phosphide gave off fumes when firemen tried to dampen them down and 18 firefighters, four paramedics and four neighbors were taken to an Oxford hospital suffering from vomiting, nausea and burning chest sensations. Assistant chief fire officer Lawrie Booth told Friday's Times: "It is an extremely unusual cause of fire — a million-to-one chance." Sadly, the goldfish did not survive the conflagration.

6 comments:

  1. This is really not funny but I can't stop laughing........Sick I am.

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  2. P.S. I meant to mention that Terry Pratchett fans will especially have loved the Assistant chief fire officer's comment...

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  3. Well I suppose at least no one could blame anyone for not foreseeing it! It sounds like a case for Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot or Adrian Monk!

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  4. Crumbs, those goldfish certainly went out with a bang.

    SP

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