By Jamie Boyle
Earlier this week some of you may have heard that a fish tank light actually caused a small fire in comedian-actor Tracy Morgan’s New York City Apartment. The good news is that the fire was contained and no one was hurt, not even the fish in his aquarium. Firefighters were called and were able to get control of the fire quick before it was able to spread any further. Reports say that the fire was put out within 30 minutes.
It just goes to show people how important it is to make sure your aquarium equipment is working properly. This could have turned out worse but luckily it was taken care of quickly. The fire here that occurred in Tracy Morgan’s New York City Apartment on Feb. 18th, 2009 was due to a faulty fish tank light. It is unknown whether or not he leaves his aquarium fish tank light on continuously but this is not recommended. Fish tank lights should only be on for about 8 hrs a day.
A good tip for aquarium owners is to make sure to check your aquarium equipment often to make sure it’s working properly. This can avoid possible fires in case of faulty equipment. An example of checking the equipment is to make sure you check the filters after a power outage. Power outages can cause the filter to lose its prime and cause them to run dry overheating and potentially catch fire. Trust me when they run dry they get very hot if you don’t know. It has happened to me several times when the power has gone out and they were extremely hot.
All I can say is Tracy Morgan was lucky that this never spread further. It would be interesting to know what aquarium fish tank light or brand he had on his fish tank. I can’t imagine him having an old fish tank light on it. Maybe there are some faulty defective fish tank lights on the market that should be looked at further. The good news is that know one was hurt and I guess the fish in the aquarium had a little luck on their side that day too.