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NewsTuesday, May 13, 2008 7:02 PM CDT
Bird nests can be fire hazards, Bloomington family learns
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BLOOMINGTON -- Katie Bowars of Bloomington wants other homeowners to heed some springtime advice: Even a bird’s nest can be dangerous -- and make sure you have a fire extinguisher.

Fires caused by nests in electrical fixtures are all too common in the spring, said Bloomington Fire Capt. Steve Giusti. Homeowners should keep an eye on exposed electrical fixtures and re-check periodically.

“They can build pretty quick,” he said.

A Good Samaritan knocked on the door of the Bowars family’s Cygnet Crossing home around 8:45 p.m. Monday, telling her a fire was visible in a light fixture on her front porch.

Her family didn’t have a fire extinguisher and the fire appeared to be spreading from the fixture, where birds had built a nest that had been there for weeks, she said. She called 911.

Firefighters knocked it down fast, but there is some charring and firefighters had to chip away at the siding to get it under control, Bowars said.

But Bowars is thankful someone spotted it before she got in the shower. Her husband was out and her two children -- Caden 5, and Chloe, 17 months -- were sleeping.

Bowars said she wished she had cleaned out the fixture when she first noticed the bird’s nest, which apparently caused the fire.

Bowars doesn’t know how much the repairs will cost yet, but she said she’ll make sure to have a fire extinguisher on hand in the future -- and never ignore a bird’s nest forming in a light fixture.

“And the poor birds,” Bowars said Tuesday. “Now they’re just sitting on our gutter chirping, wondering where their home went.”

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Reader comments on this story - 3 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

opinionated wrote on May 14, 2008 8:22 AM:

" Birds are also a hazzard in water heater and dryer vent lines. "

Crybaby wrote on May 14, 2008 5:51 AM:

" "abcd": I have four suggestions. Sit down and negotiate with the Barn Swallows. See if they're willing to chirp in on your taxes. I mean, chip in our your taxes. And secondly: maybe there is no nest in your outdoor speaker. Maybe their 'dive bombing' is merely their way of commenting on the noise coming out of that speaker. To run them off, try a little Beatles music. That's been known to work. Especially their early stuff. Thirdly: if they're a fire hazard, call the Fire Department. The firemen have great big hoses. I mean, the Fire trucks do. A cold blast of water will show those little rascals who's paying the taxes around there. Fourthly: contact WJBC. And ask them to re-instate their program "Problems And Solutions". Since that program signed off and WJBC went to an all commercial format, we've simply been lost. "

abcd wrote on May 13, 2008 10:29 PM:

" These barn swallow birds are such a pest. They have decided to build a nest in our outdoor speaker above our deck. When we go outside, they divebomb us to protect the nest. Now, we find that they are a fire hazard but when I called to have something done about them, I was told they were a protected species. They have taken over our back yard and we are the ones who pay taxes on the property. Can somebody explain to me how this can be? Any advice for what we can do? "

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