Turtle survives fire

Fire swept through Becky’s house, leaving one shell-shocked survivor…

Smoky: Becky Smith amid the blackened remains of a room, shows off Shelli, apparently none the worse for his brush with a fiery death. Inset: Shelli’s incinerated cage

If you’re a tortoise and a fire breaks out, you just have to keep your head down – or rather, in.

So, when Shelli’s cage was engulfed – along with his owner’s house – it was feared he was toast.

Such was the intensity of the blaze, it melted his cage, gutted the bedrooms of Becky Smith’s home and left her two other tortoises, Pecan and Bimble, dead. She assumed the worst for Shelli. He was so hot he ‘phfizzed’ when firefighters put him in water – and then poked his head out.

‘The firemen said he was steaming when they put him in the bucket of water and he was so hot they couldn’t pick him up,’ said Ms Smith, 27.

‘It’s a miracle he is OK – especially when you see the state of the cage.’

Vets kept him in overnight and Shelli is now nibbling cucumber again.

‘He didn’t eat for a few days and still smells a bit smoky but has no other long lasting effects,’ added Ms Smith. The fire began at the house in March, Cambridgeshire, while she was out when a heat lamp fell over into his cage setting wood chippings alight.

She and boyfriend Peter O’Donovan, 27, are staying in temporary accommodation while their home is repaired.

 Thanks Janet W

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