Goldfish Bowl Sends 26 People to Hospital

June 15, 2001 7:24 am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Firefighters on Friday blamed a goldfish bowl for sending 26 people to hospital in Britain.

They believe the bowl may have acted as a magnifying glass which concentrated the sun's rays and set light to a garden shed containing a rat-catcher's potentially noxious chemicals.

The sun's rays are believed to have entered one shed where the goldfish were kept and then passed through to another where chemicals were stored.

The tablets of aluminum phosphide gave off fumes when firemen tried to dampen them down and 18 firefighters, four paramedics and four neighbors were taken to an Oxford hospital suffering from vomiting, nausea and burning chest sensations.

Assistant chief fire officer Lawrie Booth told Friday's Times: "It is an extremely unusual cause of fire -- a million-to-one chance."

The goldfish did not survive the conflagration.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001