Posted on 12/25/2014 3:50:34 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
The sun's rays ignited fake reindeer food and snow on display in the window of the shop in Bournemouth, Dorset.
Firefighters from Dorset Fire Service attended the incident at the shop in Wimborne Road, Winton, at around 11.30am.
Occupants of neighbouring properties were advised to evacuate and firefighters put the flames out within 10 minutes of arriving on the scene.
A fire service spokesman said: "At the risk of sounding like a Christmas tale, the cause of the fire was believed to be sun refracting through a snow globe in the shop window which then ignited 'reindeer food' and fake snow material in their window display.
"There was severe fire damage to the shop window display, heat damage to the window and severe smoke damage to the entire shop."
The fire service was also warning members of the public to be vigilant if they have snow globes in their own homes.
"Fire investigators say these types of incidents are rare, but are possible, especially with the sun lower in the sky," the spokesman added.
"Consideration should be given to the possibility that this could happen in your homes, particularly with shaving type mirrors which can focus the suns rays and cause fires."
The window of the shop was boarded up to keep the premises secure.
(Excerpt) Read more at belfasttelegraph.co.uk ...
The 0bama snow job!
Be-gosh, Algore was right!
I would prefer the “Donner Party” snow globe.
WOW!!! At this very moment I’m watching Snowmaggedon on SyFy; these snowglobes are very dangerous things.
Not laughing any more.
“The sun’s rays ignited fake reindeer food and snow on display in the window of the shop in Bournemouth, Dorset”
Would love to have heard the call to the insurance company.
When I was a little boy (back in the ‘60s) my Dad came home from work one evening and described how there had been a car fire where he worked. The fire department was on the scene before the car was completely consumed.
They determined that the source of the fire was sunlight focused to a point by a gallon jug of some clear liquid that the guy had left sitting on his front seat. This was back in the days when large one-gallon glass jugs were routinely used to transport liquids, like vinegar, apple cider, etc.
I”ve personally seen this happen twice.
1.) FIrst time, a magnifying light was pushed near a window at a work station in a place I worked years ago. We smelled smoke and as the sun moved into optimal position, the magnifier burned a trail across a cardboard box used in production.
2.) Was at a rooftop penthouse with a friend drinking a glass of wine and he had a large, round, crystal water decanter on the table. We were sitting there for hours, when suddenly his telephone began smoking and was hot as hell. It was lying on the picnic table between us. He picked it up and showed it to me, we were marveling at how crappy the blackberry was, when I noticed that now smoke was coming up from the picnic table... the sun was coming through the water decanter and was lighting things up like a laser!
I almost had a house burn down by a make up mirror. The suns rays were focused to a point by the mirror and you could see a long burn mark on the wall that tracked the sun’s movement.
It is high time for a national ban on snow globes.
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