Dude, You're Getting a House Fire

Anyone else think this story sounds a bit fishy?

A fire that destroyed a South Venice house and left a family of five homeless early Thursday may have been sparked by a Dell computer model that was recalled by the company because its battery was a fire hazard.

Homeowner Louis Minnear, 36, said his wife's Dell laptop was sitting on papers on the family's couch when the couch mysteriously caught fire.

Minnear, who was staying with his family at a nearby motel Thursday night, said he is "convinced" the fire was started by the computer's battery.

The State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating, and has not ruled on the cause of the fire.
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Dezzi said he knew there was a computer on the couch when the house burned, but was not aware that the computer was a Dell. He said the fire marshal's office should issue a preliminary report on the cause today.
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The family lost almost all of its possessions, including 843 DVDs.

The fire came three days after Dell recalled 4.1 million notebook computer batteries. The company warned consumers the batteries could erupt in flames.

Hmmm...so they didn't know what kind of a computer they had, but they knew the precise number of DVDs they owned? Ver-r-r-r-ry interesting...

I always leave my laptop sitting on a stack of papers, but I make it a point to soak those papers in lighter fluid first. Usually, though, I keep my computer stored with my oily rag collection.