Aussie couple bewildered by smoke coming from dining chair: 'Deadset unlucky'
Others shared their own terrifying close calls after watching the incident unfold.
An Aussie couple's typical early morning routine turned into a very eye-opening experience when they headed downstairs to find one of their fabric dining chairs about to erupt into flames.
In footage captured by the Melbourne mum and dad, smoke can be seen streaming from a large burning hole on the padded chair. "Something's trying to set this on fire," the bewildered man says before realising the culprit — the sunlight reflecting off a Woolworths mirror innocently left on the dining table.
After sharing the video on social media, others came forward to claim the same thing had happened to them. "A double-sided mirror on my vanity burnt a hole through a wooden picture frame, definitely would have caught on fire a few minutes later!" one person commented.
"This happened to me once, mirror on the table set decorative wicker balls alight! I was lucky to get home in time to throw them out the door!" another revealed.
The mum tagged Woolworths in her post — a move some sternly disagreed with. "Guessing old mate didn't do science in school and forgot how mirrors work," someone said, adding the supermarket was not to blame. "How is this anyone's fault…that's what mirrors do with direct sunlight," responded another.
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Superintendent Adam Adam Dewberry previously told Yahoo News Australia these types of incidents are very rare and that you'd have to be "deadset unlucky" for a blaze to start like this.
"You'd have to be really unlucky, to have a really hot day, the weather conditions perfect, low humidity, magnification through your glass and your glass clean," he said. "It would have to be the perfect storm where everything is perfect for that to occur. But it can occur."
He warned anyone who notices a strong period of sun through their windows for any part of the day to check if any items could be used to magnify and intensify those rays, and then take appropriate measures like putting blinds down.
Following a similar incident involving a car seat mirror, a spokesperson for Kidsafe Australia previously told Yahoo that "such an incident is extremely rare but can't be ruled out". "It is a warning to drivers, parents and carers to check that there is no mirror, glass or magnifying item that could inadvertently focus sunlight onto any part of the vehicle's interior," they said.
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