Scrounging Steve sparks fire panic

Steve the cat is in disgrace: On the hunt for a midnight snack, he activated a ceramic stove top, igniting a pot and sending his owners scrambling through a smoke-filled house.

‘‘We could barely see in front of us,’’ said Tayla Smart, who escaped the Brightwater, Nelson, home in the early hours of yesterday morning with her baby, partner and flatmate.

When the alarm woke her, Smart suspected a false alarm.

‘‘But when I walked down the hallway and opened the door, I got a mouthful of smoke.’’

She stood in shock, while her partner ran to turn off the oven.

Firefighters who attended the incident removed a smouldering pot from the stove top.

As the smoke dissipated, the household tried to work out how the digital stove top had been activated.

Their biggest clue was the remains of a ham and cheese toastie, left on the kitchen bench, that had been moved.

And Steve the cat smelled strongly of smoke. ‘‘He’s always on the bench, he’s a scavenger. Nothing else could have done it,’’ Smart said.

Since the incident, Steve has kept his distance. ‘‘He knows he’s done something wrong.’’

Thanks to working smoke alarms, the four residents got away with minor smoke inhalation. However, Smart wanted to alert people to the dangers of digital stove tops. While her appliance has a lock function, it can be turned off at the press of a button.

She recommended people turn their appliances off at the wall when they were not in use.

Volunteer firefighter Robert Neame said it was the first time he had struck this scenario.

‘‘What we can gather is the cat jumped on the stove and with his paws, he switched the stove on.

‘‘It’s not something you see every day but when you look at it, it makes sense: the cat scrounging around for food just pressed the right place.’’

Nelson electrician Phil Platt agreed. ‘‘It’s an interesting one, a freak chance.’’

He recommended owners of prowling cats turn their stoves off at the wall when not in use, and keep stove tops clear.

‘‘He’s always on the bench ... Nothing else could have done it.’’ Tayla Smart pins the blame on Steve the cat.