Japan: Cats caused house fire by urinating on fax

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The Yomiuri Shimbun 10 June 2005

 

Cats caused house fire by urinating on fax

The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

A house fire that occurred on Jan. 16 in Nagata Ward,

Kobe, was caused by cats urinating on a fax machine, the

city's fire department said Thursday.

 

According to the department, the thermal printer head of

the machine was extensively burned, and members of the

household told the department their nine cats often

urinated on the machine.

 

In an experiment using the same model machine, the

department dripped a sample of 0.5 milliliters of urine

on the printer head's nine elements, which were spaced

0.5 millimeters apart. The first droplet conducted the

electrical current, and by the 15th, the machine produced

a spark.

 

An official of the National Research Institute of Fire

and Disaster said, " Cat urine contains salt, and salt

water conducts electricity well. This probably caused the

fire. "

 

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