Yukon fire marshal Dennis Berry is warning against leaving “strike anywhere” matches where even your dog might get a hold of them.

Berry explained this morning a recent fire in the Mount Lorne subdivision was most likely caused by a couple of dogs chewing or playing with a box of matches beside their bed.

There were no injuries as a result of the Nov. 25 fire on the Lewes Lake Road.

The dogs were fine, and they used a doggy door to leave the residence, as the homeowner had already left for work, he said.

Berry said while there was minimal fire damage to the single-storey home with a basement, the smoke damage was extensive.

An investigation determined the fire started in or beside the dogs’ bed, and the source of ignition was likely the “strike anywhere” matches, he said.

The fire marshal posted a note about the fire on Facebook as a means of using the incident to show just how easily fires can start, to emphasize the importance of fire safety.

“What I really want people to consider is home safety, and home fire safety in particular,” he said.

Berry said residents need to understand the importance of having smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and they need to have an escape plan in case of an emergency.

“When a fire starts, we need to know how to get out of our homes and where we meet as a family,” he said. “That is what I want to highlight.”

It’s important to stay aware all year-round, but even moreso during the holiday season because people are lighting candles, there’s more activity in the home and more cooking going on, he said.

The fire marshal emphasized the importance of keeping the Christmas tree watered, and using the appropriate lights.

Berry said his office has just posted a video it produced to emphasize the Be a Hero in your home campaign, and he encourages people to visit the fire marshal’s Facebook page to see it.

“Watching the video shows how easy it is to be safe in your home,” he said. “Fire can start in your home for the most unlikely reasons, and we have to be prepared.”

The owner of the Lewes Lake Road residence left for work at 7:30 a.m. and returned home around 6:30 p.m. when smoke billowed out of his house as he opened the door, the fire marshal recounted.

Fire chief Colin O’Neill of the Mount Lorne Volunteer Fire Department and five other volunteers were on the scene in 10 to 15 minutes.

“When they arrived on scene, there was heavy smoke and a few hot spots,” Berry explained. “So there had been a fire but it had extinguished itself.”

The fire marshal said an investigation determined the fire had started in the doggy bed, crept to a nearby couch and then to a wicker chair.

For some reason, perhaps not enough fuel to get really going, or perhaps robbed of oxygen from the thick smoke, the fire did not develop intensity, he said.

Berry said fires putting themselves out before they get rolling is not unheard of, but on another day, if conditions had been different, the outcome might have been different too.

A clock that was working stopped at 8:30 a.m., so firefighters believe the fire would have occurred sometime between 7:30 and 8:30, he said.

Berry said there was nothing electrical near the bed nor anything else that might normally serve as an ignition source, but firefighters did find the burned remains of a box of matches.

“The most likely and the most probable conclusion is the dogs at some point took the match box and were chewing on it or playing with it and that caused the matches to ignite.”

Berry said he’s not heard of an animal causing a fire under these types of circumstances, but his colleagues have heard of boxes of wooden matches igniting simply by being dropped.

He’s also heard of mice carrying off strike-anywhere matches to their holes.

The incident really does serve as an example of how easily fires can get start, and how important it is to be prepared, Berry said.