*FORT SUMNER, New Mexico (AP) -- A mouse got its
revenge against a
homeowner who tried to dispose of it in a pile of burning leaves. The
blazing
creature ran back to the man's house and set it on fire.*
Luciano Mares, 81, of Fort Sumner said he caught the
mouse inside his
house and wanted to get rid of it.
"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it
in the fire, and the
mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," Mares said from a
motel room
Saturday.
Village Fire Chief Juan Chavez said the burning mouse
ran to just
beneath a window, and the flames spread up from there and throughout the
house.
No was hurt inside, but the home and everything in it
was destroyed.
Unseasonably dry and windy conditions have charred
more than 53,000
acres and destroyed 10 homes in southeastern New Mexico in recent weeks.
"I've seen numerous house fires," village
Fire Department Capt. Jim
Lyssy said, "but nothing as unique as this one."
