Had a fire in Virginia's cage :(

[Dakota]

Okay, I was making hot chocolate in the kitchen, and as I was done, I walked by the sliding doors to see the skinks (because I literally stock them), and Virginia's cage was GULPED in smoke!! I literally threw my hot coco down, ran to her, quickly got her (thankfully she was on the other side of the cage!!), and quickly took her out. I sat her down on the patio so she would get some fresh air. Her belly was really dry (dry belly scales), but no burns to be seen.

I left the burning substrate alone, because I was more worried about Virginia, and it KEPT burning! Even without the lamp. I then poured like gallon of water on the area, and it is now stopped.

I'm counting my blessing so much right now, thank god my baby girl is okay. I'll upload some photos in just a minute.

[Lea]

She'll need a vet visit. Smoke damage is insidious and dangerous and could have serious consequences for her health. Best do so ASAP.

Did the smoke spread to the other cages? What caused the fire, do you know? Water was probably not the best option to extinguish, given all the electrics about, but I'm pleased you got it under control.

[Dakota]

No, her cage was on top of theirs, so the smoke rose and went into the wind.

Thanks for the advice Lea!
Here are some pictures.

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[Dakota]

She'll need a vet visit. Smoke damage is insidious and dangerous and could have serious consequences for her health. Best do so ASAP.

Did the smoke spread to the other cages? What caused the fire, do you know? Water was probably not the best option to extinguish, given all the electrics about, but I'm pleased you got it under control.

It was caused by her heat lamp falling.. as you can tell from the pictures I just posted.

[Dakota]

What do I say the vet? Tell him that there was a fire, and she needs to be checked out?

[Lea]

Smoke inhalation and heat can cause lung damage and the small sacs, alveoli, that transport oxygen, become inefficient leading to oxygen deprivation and shortness of breath. A secondary effect of smoke is pulmonary oedema, where the body's natural reaction to the insult from smoke, causes the lungs to fill with fluid. This can happen hours after the inhalation and damage done may not be seen immediately, which is why a vet visit is essential. Your vet may want to keep her in for observation for 24 hours and this would be advisable.

If yon say she was in her cage when the lamp fell and the substrate caught fire, that should be all he needs to know to decide a course of action.

[Dakota]

Smoke inhalation and heat can cause lung damage and the small sacs, alveoli, that transport oxygen, become inefficient leading to oxygen deprivation and shortness of breath. A secondary effect of smoke is pulmonary oedema, where the body's natural reaction to the insult from smoke, causes the lungs to fill with fluid. This can happen hours after the inhalation and damage done may not be seen immediately, which is why a vet visit is essential. Your vet may want to keep her in for observation for 24 hours and this would be advisable.

If yon say she was in her cage when the lamp fell and the substrate caught fire, that should be all he needs to know to decide a course of action.

I just called me father while at work and told him what you just said and everything that happened. Thanks so much for the advice, Lea.

[Coomassie]

Let us know what happens with the vet! That is terrifying and I'm glad she appears to be all right. I would check your other skinks if you haven't already and watch them very closely for the next 24 to 48 hours.

[Dakota]

I have called, but no reptile vet was on duty, so they should be calling me back soon.

Is there anything I should be doing until the visit? I plan to bring her inside, so she doesn't have to endure any coldness. But anything else? I cleaned out her cage, and am now setting it outside to air out even more for the rest of the day (until the smell is gone).

[Coomassie]

As far as I know (someone else may know something else) really all you can do for smoke inhalation is fresh air. Ideally there would be a high oxygen environment but I doubt you can get that in your house. Just keep any other inhalation irritants away from her so no scented anything or chemicals. Don't want to stress her lungs out any more.

[critterguy]

Their have been a couple near misses recorded on this forum...and we all know plenty of breeders have lost stock. This is probably a good time to remind people a couple points of fire safety(from a total hobbyist perspective pertaining to bluetongues).

1. PLEASE make sure heat lamps are secured and have no way of falling into tanks...or being knocked over or otherwise. There are lots of clamps sold to lock them into place-but I don't feel comfortable trusting these. Attaching them to the metal lid is the safest bet. Frankly heat lamps scare me and I don't use them or keep anything that requires them.

2. Be cautious of how much stuff you are plugging into one socket-don't overload. Also, keep cords neat to keep things from being pulled over.

3. IMO with skinks if your climate allows high quality UTH's/RHP's or heat cable on a rheostat/thermostat/timer is the safest bet, with lighting provided another way if you want it(my animals are in just ambient room light). Not even the highest tech replaces frequent checking of the surface temperatures of these devices, as everything can fail potentially.

4. a large warm spot is safer than a small hot spot

[Dakota]

I do not use heat lamps outside typically (they either basking from the sun in the winter that shines in part of the cage (and yes, it is completely safe) or ambient temperature in the summer), but I have noticed Virginia has been wanting to bask more (today, she basked until her body surface temperature was 105F although she had a 63F cold side, which is odd, since they usually stop at around 90 or so, and return the cool side). So, I have been giving her some additional heat.

And as you can see, there is a clamp on the lamp, so not sure what made it fall off. But from now on, I don't think I will be using heat lamps anymore. I have never really liked them in the first place, and this just sets it, although it could have been my fault.

critterguy, are you an ambient heater or do you use UTH? Also, what is a RHP?

[Dakota]

Just got off the phone with the on-call reptile vet, I mentioned what you said Lea and he said that if she wasn't showing any sign of gaping or having any trouble to breathe, then there wasn't any cause for concern, especially since the fire happened a few hours ago.

He did state to bring her in if she were to start doing such things, but if not -- no need.

[Dakota]

It is just sad thinking that if I would have been at a public school or something, my whole BTS family would be dead.

I have all the skinks' cages side by side, but Virginia's tub is on top of them, so if the fire would have proceeded, it would melted down into the rest of the cages. Only Maxx would have been alive, since it is at a different place.

Thank god I am home-schooled.

[Susann]

I lost my first skink that way. Lamp didn't fall into the tank but was left on the floor; I caught it before there was a fire, but unfortunately not before there was smoke. He showed no signs of distress for several hours, until about 3 hrs after I had cleared out all the smoke; I went to check on him and found him in his water bowl --I thought he needed a soak as he had just got done shedding. While the water was running in the tub he was getting very sleepy and hard to wake up. I ran him to the vet, about a 45 min drive; he never really regained consciousness and passed after 3 days in a high-oxygen tank at the vet's.

I don't mean to scare you any more than you already are, just keep a very close eye on her.

It looks like she is in a plastic tub; I mention this because #1, there may have been some fumes released from the plastic even if you can't see any melting, and #2, I do NOT recommend a UTH on plastic --they are notorious for malfunctioning on plastic, had that happen as well. I've never used heat cable or RHP, so I can't speak for how safe those are on plastic.
I use lamp hooks to suspend any fixtures over open top tanks.

Good luck. Every digit on my body is crossed for you, hoping you got away with nothing but a bad scare.

[Dakota]

How long was he in the smoke room?

[Susann]

I would guess less than 10 minutes, but it is a very large family room, so not like a bedroom full of smoke.

[Linnea]

i am really sorry to hear this. i hope all goes well for your skinks. everyone has already given excellent advice regarding poor virginia, but i feel like adding this information about preventive measures.

where is the fire alarm? your whole house couldve gone down, you could also have inhaled a lot of toxic plastic smoke.
fire safety rule number one - a basic fire alarm equipped with batteries. they catch the smoke much faster than you ever could, and in much smaller amounts. place them in every room if you need to, but its more normal to have a few in rooms that use more electronics or in rooms where you sleep.

second rule is to attend lessons for how to handle fire in homes. pouring water in a room with electronics and plastics, is not a good idea. a fire extinguisher comes in many forms and sizes, but theyre an invaluable asset in any home. this should be your first choice. some fires will be out of reach for you to help with, learning when to back off and call for help is also good.

after virginias been checked, make sure to learn fire proofing your living area so you wont get hurt yourself too. if you start feeling any effects of the smoke, make sure to get help too.

Good luck! im sure this will go well

[Dakota]

We don't have fire alarms outside. My skinks reside in the screened-in patio. But putting one out there would be a good idea perhaps.

And no, I do not have a fire extinguisher, never lived in a home with one. I did not splash the water, and the lamp was the only electronic around (but put away), After I got Virginia out and settled, I noticed it was smoking more, so I went got some water, and gently poured it on the area. Once it was cool enough, I scooped it with my hands into a trash-bag.

And I know, I probably didn't do the safest thing about the little fire, but I was so tore about Virginia, I wasn't thinking straight.. did what first came to mind -- and it worked so in the end, I'm happy.

[donkeybuff]

Definitely get a fire extinguisher. Florida is probably a lot more lax about these things, but in California, it is required that every house has one.