Tortoises' heating pad sets garage ablaze in Calif.

By Ellen Huet
San Francisco Chronical

SAN FRANCISCO — An Alameda County Fire Department firefighter was treated for minor injuries suffered in battling a garage fire Tuesday in Castro Valley that was sparked by a malfunctioning heating pad for a pair of tortoises, officials said.

The fire began in a detached garage on the 17400 block of Almond Road around 3 a.m., said Battalion Chief Dan O'Hara of the Alameda County Fire Department.

An electrical malfunction in a heating pad for two African tortoises that live in the garage caused the fire, O'Hara said. The tortoises, each about 3 feet in diameter, lumbered slowly but steadily to safety and were unharmed.

Firefighters put out the blaze within 10 minutes, O'Hara said. A firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion at a hospital and released.

Copyright 2012 San Francisco Chronicle


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