Sun rays, refracted like through a magnifying glass from bottles in an open garbage can, may have been the cause of a forest fire in the northern part of the American state of Texas, which burned five homes, reports BTA.

The fire started on July 18 on the west shore of Possum Kingdom Lake, located about 113 kilometers west of Fort Worth, and firefighters battled it for eight days before it was fully contained.

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A local volunteer fire chief found a trash can full of paper, food, and many glass bottles, leading him to believe that sunlight entering it may have refracted through the bottles like a magnifying glass and caused the fire.

A spokesman for the Insurance Board of Texas said it was the strangest cause of the fire he had ever heard of.

A number of raging wildfires are raging in North Texas, fueled by extreme drought, temperatures exceeding 38 degrees Celsius and high winds. 

Texas

fire in the USA