Bewildering video footage shows the moment a dog managed to turn on a kitchen stove and start a fire.
The large dog managed to lift his two front legs onto the kitchen top and switch on the gas hob with its paws.
Moments later, the pet pooch wandered into the hallway and the cooker burst into flames at the house in Missouri, USA.
Emergency services were baffled when they arrived at the scene and found only two rescue dogs inside, reports UPI.
An investigation was launched into the cause of the fire which started while the dogs' owners were away.
Security footage taken from the living area later revealed how one of its four-legged occupants was behind the blaze.
Crews from Kansas City Fire Department and Southern Platte Fire Protection District rushed to the scene after smoke began billowing from the kitchen.
Firefighters reviewed the footage from inside the home and discovered one of the dogs had stood on its hind legs to investigate a pan on the stove.
The canine inadvertently turned on the heat and then disappeared from view.
Investigators said the pan still had food in it from a previous meal and the heat caused a grease fire about eight minutes after the canine activated the stove.
The house, located in the Riss Lake neighbourhood of Parkville, was left severely damaged after the blaze.
Neither of the two pet dogs were injured in the fire which was reported in June.
Home appliances, candles, Christmas decorations and electrical devices are the most common causes of house fires in the US, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Pets and animals do not even fall within the top 10 causes of house fires, which are often put down to faulty gadgets, candles and shoddy electrical work.
Other top fire starters are people falling asleep while smoking, chemicals and gasses, lightning, children unknowingly playing with fire or matches at home, BBQ grills and normal fires that grow out of control.
The NFPA reported 490,500 house fires in the US in 2020, among a near 1.39m reported fires of all types.
House fires cost 2,730 lives, 13,000 injuries and left behind $12.1billion worth of property damage.
