Ananova:

A pet fish has been blamed for a house fire which nearly cost a woman and her two daughters their lives.

Kipper, an eight-inch catfish, is thought to have triggered the blaze when it fought with a rival in their tank.

Water splashed out of the aquarium and landed on an electric plug below, reports The Sun.

It sent a power surge up the tank's light cable which burnt the plastic lid which melted and dripped onto a leather sofa which burst into flames.

The blaze soon engulfed the lounge as Sharron Killahena, 25, and kids Nicole, six, and Kerry, two, slept upstairs in the house in Poole, Dorset.

Luckily a smoke alarm woke landlord Simon Justice, 25, in a different room, who woke the family in time to escape.

Their home was wrecked and their six fish died but Sharron said: "At least we are here to tell the tale."