January 9, 2006 Vengeful mouse torches house by Gulliver
A mouse got revenge on a New Mexico homeowner who tried to
kill the creature by tossing it on a pile of blazing leaves.
The mouse got all fired up, it seems, and ran back ablaze
to the man’s home and set it on fire.
It was an unfortunate start to the New Year for 81-year-old
Fort Sumner resident Luciano Mares. He had caught the unwelcome
guest inside his house and wanted rid of it.
So he made the mistake of tossing it on a pile of burning
leaves.
"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in
the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house,"
Mares said.
Local fire authorities described how the burning mouse ran
beneath a window, and the flames spread up from there and
went through the house.
"I have seen numerous house fires, but nothing as unique
as this one,” village Fire Department Capt. Jim Lyssy
commented.
Nobody was hurt inside the house, but everything in it was
destroyed.
Conditions were dry and windy at the time – early January
2006. The unseasonable weather had seeb tens of thousands
of acres charred and 10 homes destroyed in southeast New Mexico
in the preceding few weeks.
