Bears turn on stove, nearly start house fire in Lake Tahoe: CDFW

(KRON) — A pair of black bears nearly started a house fire in South Lake Tahoe on Aug. 21, after the animals broke into a house while no one was home and turned on the stove, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

A CDFW employee was collecting DNA evidence from a bear break-in at a different home near Butler Avenue when the fire was discovered. The employee was searching for two bears that were chased away from the home when they found another house with a pushed-in window and trash scattered around the property.

The employee smelled gas coming from inside the house and called 911. Firefighters responded to the home and found items melting on the stovetop.

“Emergency responders arrived, turned off the gas and averted a potentially catastrophic fire to the unoccupied home,