Pet lizard sets off fire that severely damages Panhandle home

A grim reminder to maintain safety with basking lamps and other heaters.
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MARY ESTHER -- A pet lizard is being blamed for causing a fire that severely damaged a house, killed the reptile and put a cat in an animal hospital.

The blaze began after the large orange lizard, one of Lynn Robinson's many pets, escaped from its cage Wednesday in this Fort Walton Beach suburb in the Florida Panhandle, said state fire marshal's investigator Gary Gazillo.

The lizard apparently knocked over a heat lamp atop the cage and it landed on a comforter lying on the floor. That ignited the fire that caused an estimated $20,000 in damage to the modest three-bedroom rental house, Gazillo said.

Although rare, Gazillo said it wasn't the first time he has investigated a fire caused by a lizard and a heat lamp.

The flames were contained in a matter of minutes to the back bedroom, said Dave Messerschmidt, a battalion chief with the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department.

Robinson and her husband, David, were at work. Firefighters and neighbors rescued their two dogs, a second lizard and one of her cats, Chewy, which was treated for smoke inhalation. A second cat was missing, but firefighters said it appears the animal escaped from the burning home.

The Robinsons had found Chewy after Hurricane Ivan struck the Florida Panhandle and took him in.

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I have come close to doing that very thing myself. I had set a night lamp in a dome lamp on the floor(carpeted). It was off at the time I set it down and then the timer kicked it on later that night. I had a perfect black circle on the floor. Dont thik it was the lizards fault though..

i had a close call with a heatlamp one of my dogs pulled down and it landed on a blanket. luckily i came home just at the moment the blanket caught fire. i smelled a wierd smell and went investigating and i seen the heatlamp and at that moment the fire started. lucky the only thing lost was the blanket.

Yeah, thats a pretty common thing to have happen, like Justcage said, i did the same thing. Kind of funny actaually, and it was right in the center of the room.