Cat piss causes FIRE!

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Cat urinating on laptop may have sparked house fire

Anna Caldwell

July 06, 2009 12:00am

FIRE crews are investigating whether a cat urinating on a laptop sparked a fire that has destroyed most of a home in a Gold Coast gated community.

Police said two teen boys, aged 16 and 18, were home alone for the weekend when the fire broke out about 9am yesterday morning in the Royal Pines Golf Resort at Benowa.

An emergency services spokeswoman said the blaze began in the corner of one of two bedrooms at the back of the two-storey rented house.

It is understood initial investigations traced the fire to a laptop computer.

Police investigations revealed the boys said they had let the pet cat out of the house at 5.30am, but it had somehow made its way back inside and urinated on a laptop in the corner of one of the boys' rooms.

Emergency services said smoke alarms alerted the teens to the fire and they evacuated.

The 16-year-old suffered mild smoke inhalation and was taken to the Gold Coast Hospital as a precaution.

The emergency services spokeswoman said investigations into the incident would continue today, but added the fire was not believed to be suspicious.