Tampa resident says glass flower vase likely caused house fire: ‘Worst fear’
TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa resident said a glass flower vase he left to dry out in the sun likely caused a fire at his house.
The backstory:
Collier – who asked to go by his first name – said he and his family were at his kid’s basketball game when neighbors called to say there was smoke coming from his house. When the family pulled onto their street, they were shocked at what they saw.
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"Worst fear as a homeowner, right? Driving up: Five fire engines, firefighters running in and out of your garage," Collier said.
A fire had sparked near the family’s garage. Hillsborough County firefighters had to cut out a section of the garage wall to ensure that the fire was completely out. To determine a potential cause, fire crews focused on a small, square patch of mulch immediately next to Collier’s garage.
What they're saying:
"The firefighters had asked, ‘did you leave something with like a lithium-ion battery or lighters or matches or something out here?’ Which I said ‘no.’ And they were like, ‘well, something happened here,’" Collier said, remembering their conversation. "And then my wife said, ‘was the vase sitting out here?’"
The family had recently gotten flowers that came in a curved glass vase, which they decided to wash and keep.
"We'd left the flowers in maybe a day too long. A little bit of brown water. So we had brought it outside," Collier said of the vase. "Soap, cleaned it, made it nice and shiny, and left it outside to dry."
The vase was left drying near the hose, which was wrapped up in a hose reel next to the garage. But after the fire, there was no vase. Collier could only find glass shards strewn about. And the only thing remaining of the hose reel was a charred piece that was much smaller than the original reel.
Collier explained all this to the firefighters.
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"I remember he snapped his fingers, and he was like, ‘that was it.’ He knew right away," Collier said. "And then later, the fire inspector came, and he kind of said the same thing: ‘Was something over here?’ I said, ‘well, we are missing a vase.’"
Dig deeper:
Cases are rare, but if conditions are just right, glass objects – like a curved vase – can concentrate the sun’s rays to generate enough heat to start a fire.
For example, in 2022, glass bottles magnifying sunlight in an open trash can reportedly ignited paper and other items in the trash, which then spread into a 500-acre wildfire in Texas.
Collier told FOX 13 that the Hillsborough County fire inspector told him something similar likely happened at his house.
"Based off of, you know, at that moment, the sun was low in the sky, pointed right over here," Collier said, gesturing to the area near the garage where the vase was drying. "He felt very confident, which we did, too. There was nothing else there!"
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What you can do:
Moving forward, Collier is sharing his experience so other families know what to watch for.
"You gotta be careful, you know, unfortunately. None of us need another thing to worry about," Collier said. "It's the price you pay to live in paradise, but the sun is strong."
The Source: The information in this story was gathered during an interview with the Tampa homeowner.
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