BANG!

 

BANG! <FLASH>

 

POP!

 

That's how my day started this morning at 5am.... I jumped out of bed and ran out into the hall to see what the [h e double hockey sticks] was going on. I found the heater to the fish tank in the hall hanging out of the tank and on fire. I unplugged it and ran for the fire extinguisher to put it out. Once I had it put out, I had to open windows to dissipate the cloud of white smoke form the extinguisher and then clean up the mess. What a mess it made too...

 

It seems that the top seal on the heater leaked, allowing water into the heater. When the heater turned on, the little bulb in the heater exploded, throwing the core of the heater into the air (the glass tube is still fully intact, BTW). This was the first bang.. the second was the heater falling back into the water and the flash was 110v hitting the water. The third was apparently the third time it hit the water. I found the label  from inside the heater on the floor in the hall, it was thrown completely clear and was clearly scorched from the bulb exploding. Needless to say I'm replacing the heaters in both tanks and installing a GFCI on the fish tank circuit (the other tank has one already).

 

What a way to start the day. I can still taste the fire extinguisher.