Can a dog bowl start a fire? Test shows idea does hold water

Turns out, blaming a fire on a dog water bowl isn't as goofy as it sounds.

A Bellevue Fire Department investigator said earlier this week that he suspects a house fire started when a partially filled glass bowl, resting in a wire stand on the home's deck, concentrated the sun's rays like a magnifying glass.

There was nothing else in that area of the house — no smokers, no electrical devices — that could have caused the fire. The blaze last Sunday destroyed the deck, badly burned the adjacent kitchen — and left some people wondering if the investigator was serious.

"People were trying to guess as to whether or not he had lost his mind," joked Lt. Eric Keenan, the Fire Department's community liaison officer.

So Keenan grabbed his old college physics book and started working out the scenario on paper.

"I thought, 'You know what, I think he's got something.' "

With investigators busy fleshing out the cause of another fire, Keenan decided to put the hypothesis to the test Friday on a sun deck at Bellevue City Hall, just for kicks.

"It's the MythBuster himself," said one co-worker, looking on as Keenan reconstructed the scene of the fire: He put a clear bowl of water on a metal stand, placing it about 13 ½ inches above a thin piece of cedar placed below it at an angle. The bowl suspected of causing the deck fire was 14 inches above the deck, Keenan said.

The conditions — 70 degrees and sunny, with light winds — were comparable to those on Sunday. The experiment was performed at about 1:45 p.m., an hour before the actual fire started. Keenan admitted he wasn't sure what kind of wood the deck was made of.

With the sun shining down on the bowl, the cedar began smoldering in about 15 seconds. Earlier, some newspaper caught fire just as easily.

Before an official cause of Sunday's fire is determined, Keenan said investigators likely will return to the house for a more thorough study, using the same type of decking to try to re-create the blaze.

But for now, he said, "I'd say the theory is at least credible."

Material from The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Maks Goldenshteyn: 206-464-2374 or mgoldenshteyn@seattletimes.com