Mouse Thrown Into Fire Sets Home Ablaze



By Associated Press

January 8, 2006, 4:19 PM EST


FORT SUMNER, N.M. -- A mouse got its revenge against a homeowner who tried
to dispose of it in a pile of burning leaves. The blazing creature ran back
to the man's house and set it on fire.

Luciano Mares, 81, of Fort Sumner said he caught the mouse inside his house
and wanted to get rid of it.

"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 from a motel room
Saturday.

Village Fire Chief Juan Chavez said the burning mouse ran to just beneath a
window, and the flames spread up from there and throughout the house.

No was hurt inside, but the home and everything in it was destroyed.

Unseasonably dry and windy conditions have charred more than 53,000 acres
and destroyed 10 homes in southeastern New Mexico in recent weeks.

"I've seen numerous house fires," village Fire Department Capt. Jim Lyssy
said, "but nothing as unique as this one."