A Nutella jar may have caused a house fire

Nutella
(Image credit: Facebook.com/Nutella)

A Feb. 15 house fire in southwest London may have an unlikely culprit: an empty Nutella jar.

Firefighters told The Associated Press that the glass jar, which was in a window sill, refracted sun rays, causing the window's blinds to catch on fire.

In a statement released Tuesday, the firefighters said the family was not at home at the time, though the fire unfortunately killed the family dog.

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"It sounds far-fetched that a jar containing a few rubber bands caused a severe house fire, but that's exactly what happened," fire investigator Charlie Pugsley told AP.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.