Unusual explanation for cause of brush fire

[oldbrownhat]

B.C. brush fire sparked by bird dropping fish on power lines, firefighters say

Firefighters in B.C.'s Interior believe they have identified the cause of a small brush fire and power outage — an osprey and a fish.

..."We get out there and right at the base of the pole, we find this charred fish," White said. "And we're just wondering, how did this get here?"

It was determined the fish had been dropped by an osprey, "and when it had fallen from the sky, it had hit a couple of the lines, and that's what created the embers landing in the grasses and taking off from there."

"We do suspect by the size of the fish and the heat of the day probably caused the rather tired bird to drop its catch," the fire department wrote in a social media post.

The post said without explanation that firefighters verified that the "prime suspect sustained no injuries in the incident."

 

[blackdeuce]

Sounds a little fishy to me.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Sounds a little fishy to me.

Yeah. It seems they don't make osprey like they used to. Ashcroft is in an arid, semi-desert area but it's only been around 90º recently. The bird's a wimp.

 

[A10]

Pics or it didn't happen.....

 

[oldbrownhat]

Pics or it didn't happen.....

LOL. I don't work for Ashcroft Fire Rescue or BC Hydro but AFR has a public Facebook page with some info and comments like "Did the arsonist fly the coop ?"

 

[Rudi]

No chips?

 

[oldbrownhat]

No chips?

Consumed by the brush fire I expect

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

Only a fish? Coulda been a deer.

John

 

[oldbrownhat]

Whaaat??? Up here in BC our deer can't fly or climb utility poles.
In some places I guess it could also have been a post turtle

 

[Jon651]

Actually, not that strange. I've seen several animal-related causes of brush fires over the years, but it's usually squirrels who manage to ground themselves when they climb onto a power line instead of jumping onto it. So glad my brush-fire-fighting days are long behind me!

 

[65-2x2]

The bird wanted the fish cooked. I don't blame him a damn bit, no sushi for me! I can see the fish causing an arc-flash resulting in molten metal popping off to start the fire, but you can't start a fire with a hot, wet fish, I know, I have tried.

 

[mtgianni]

I had a friend with a deadpan delivery who claimed he once saw an Eagle pick a 2 1/2 lb trout out of a lake. Someone asked how he knew it was 2 1/2 lbs and his reply was "He dropped it on the hood of my Blazer".

I can see that a fish might hit a cutout switch causing a line to spark but have a hard time believing a bird could do it 2 out of ten tries.

 

[oldbrownhat]

...but you can't start a fire with a hot, wet fish, I know, I have tried.

Now that's not something most people would admit to.

@Jon651 Yup. We've had a few electrical fires caused by fried squirrels.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Now if you're a scientist researching how to start a fire, there is the legendary story of Prof. George Goble at Purdue University who decided to see how fast he could light a barbecue using liquid oxygen. There are YT vids of the event.​

​

From Wikipedia:

In 1996, Goble was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for preparing a barbecue for cooking in less than 5 seconds by the use of a smoldering cigarette, charcoal and LOX (liquid oxygen) This act attracted the attention of the West Lafayette, Indiana fire department, which warned him to never let them catch him in the possession of LOX near a barbecue fire ever again.​

 

[Ματθιας]

When I worked In warehouse in an industrial area, we had a problem with stray cats.

One morning we heard a pop and the lights flickered. Then, one of the customers came running in saying, " You won't believe what just happened." We went out and there was big Tom on the ground, singed fur smoking pretty good, with his arm burnt off just below the elbow. We knew he was on the transformer trying to hunt birds. I guess he completed the circuit. Poor Tom.

Later that day we found his paw, claws extended, in the bed of one of the delivery trucks.

 

[65-2x2]

Now that's not something most people would admit to.

@Jon651 Yup. We've had a few electrical fires caused by fried squirrels.

It is a shame, but some of us have no shame.

 

[fiasconva]

Sounds like a pretty bird-brained explanation the me. Hey, somebody had to say it!

 

[Golddollar]

Was there any tartar sauce under the wires?