And no mention of remorse for his tortoise?

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Cowboy_Ken

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PORTLAND, Ore. – Crews battled a fire at a three-story condo building on Hayden Island Sunday afternoon.

The fire started at around 12:30 p.m. at the Columbia Point West condos at 193 N Hayden Bay Drive. Residents who evacuated watched as smoke poured from the third floor of Building G.

Firefighters called for more resources with a second alarm after they arrived. Vancouver firefighters helped crews from Portland fight the fire.

No one was hurt.

A neighbor told KATU he called 911 after smelling smoke coming from the building next door.

Andrew O'Keefe, who co-owns the condo where the fire started, said he left to run an errand for ten minutes and returned to see flames coming from his unit. He believes a heat lamp he used to keep his pet tortoise warm on his outdoor porch caused the fire.

"Not exactly how I thought my Sunday was going to end up," said O'Keefe. "Luckily everybody is safe. All the people in the building are fine. I hope too much extra damage wasn't caused to other people's homes as a result."

O'Keefe said his 4-year-old tortoise named Milo (right) died in the fire. He also lost his fiance's wedding dress for their wedding next month.

"She was the first call on my phone, to let her know what happened. I apologized," he said.

Firefighters said the fire spread above the sprinkler system in the roof. The official cause of the fire is unclear. Firefighters said it's legal to use small heat lamps outdoors.

"Things like this happen," O'Keefe said. "That's why you have insurance. That's why you have good friends and neighbors to help you out in these times."

KATU's Dan Cassuto contributed to this story.
 

wellington

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It's too bad the tortoise died, but I'm sure he had more sorries then the death of his tortoise. Like legal action, damage to other residence and the fiery of burning the wedding dress. I would be devastated, but I wasn't in his shoes. I can't really blame this one. My personal opinion.


Oh, and I am one that will save all my animals no matter what if there is any chance. Not even a firefighter will have the guts to stop this maniac from going back in for my animals. I just think it was his circumstance that he didn't meantion the tort. Besides the dumb questions, your house, wedding dress, tort is damaged/dead, how do you feel, duh.
 

Zabbi0

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[SLEEPY FACE][DISAPPOINTED BUT RELIEVED FACE] this is such a heartbreaking story.


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thatrebecca

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It's a short story -- you never know what the news outlet cut out or what questions the reporter asked. Isn't the real takeaway about safety with heat lamps?
 

Tom

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I bet he used the clamp and did nothing else to secure it...

I really think they ought not even sell those little clamps attached to the lamps in the first place. They are not safe or reliable for any sort of use anyway...
 

Tom

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Cowboy_Ken said:
Used as spot lights for a work area, they're handy. But then, a person is there and turns the light off when done with the project.

Yeah, but if you walk away for dinner, or a run to the hardware or auto parts store to finish your project, you might come home to find the fire trucks in your driveway...
 

Spn785

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I know my first thought would have been about my tortoise. I wouldn't have cared nearly as much about the wedding dress as I would have the tortoise. I have never trusted the clamps, but then again I'm nervous about leaving the heat light on at all when I'm not home. LOL
 

jojomo

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sad story indeed :( I had a house go up in flames back in 2009....I DID run back in for the cat and the beardies...everyone thought I was a fool but we all got out safe. Cat suffered some pretty bad smoke inhalation but recovered.
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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Tom said:
I bet he used the clamp and did nothing else to secure it...

I really think they ought not even sell those little clamps attached to the lamps in the first place. They are not safe or reliable for any sort of use anyway...

Agreed. Those clamps suck. You've got to use something else to secure the lamp, or else ... well, or else you get a story like this.

Back when I lived in Tampa, Florida, my apartment was actually struck by lightning and burned down. It's really appalling how structures in the most lightning-prone part of North American (Central Florida) do not have lightning rods.

Anyway, I was not keeping any tortoises or box turtles at the time. However, I did have a couple of aquariums with kribensis cichlids and dwarf African clawed frogs. All of the frogs died, but most of the kribensis cichlids did survive. Amazingly tough little guys.
 

Vickie

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Laura said:
Its illegal to use a lamp outdoors?

NO its legal....I know I had to read that a couple times myself. I feel so bad for that tortoise. I cannot imagine my heartbreak on that one. We had a minor fire at our home 9 yrs ago. At that time we had Cockatiels in 3 separate cages since our 1 breeding pair wouldn't stop having eggs and they were waiting on homes. We had them housed in big cast iron cages and I ran in and out for all 3 cages. Our neighbor was in shock but I didn't care one bit. Now we live in Ohio so we all know you have to be prepared for tornadoes. Every time we have gone to the cellar all dogs were in hand along with any and every other type of animal we have.
 
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