Crystal ball torches woman's flat

Didn't see that coming

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 12th August 2009 09:16 GMT

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The owner of a 4-inch diameter crystal ball got a nasty shock when she returned from visiting a chum to find the vitreous ornament had torched her flat.

According to the Sun, the "unforeseen" blaze in Worle, Somerset, was caused by the £30 sphere focusing the sun's rays onto the back of 53-year-old Kim Yeates's telly, which then exploded, setting fire to her sofa.

Firefighters tackled the resulting fire, but the damage it caused will take her housing association landlords eight weeks to repair, during which Yeates will have to camp out in temporary accommodation.

She said: "My life has been totally wrecked by this crystal ball. I've got no insurance and almost everything I owned was in the flat.

"I used to love looking at the crystal ball and watching the sunlight come through it, but I wish I had never bought it now. I'm completely devastated."

A spokeswoman for Avon Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the crystal ball as the culprit for the fire, and noted it's "very uncommon for this to happen". ®

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