THE TORTOISE AND THE FLARE

HOT AS SHELL

HE may not have escaped quickly, but his bid for freedom started a fast moving, massive blaze that wiped out a family's apartment, injuring a firefighter and three cops in the process.
Giovanni, a six-year-old African spurred Sulcata tortoise somehow managed to tip over his tank, sending it's heat lamp crashing to the floor, which in turn ignited a pile of art supplies, including paint thinner.
As the rambunctious reptile made his bid for freedom from his 18-year-old owner, Mohamed Salem's bedroom the flames rose New York fire marshals revealed.  
Within minutes, flames tore through the third-floor Brooklyn apartment that Salem, an art student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, shared with his family.
Three brave cops then rushed in to look for trapped residents, although the only one home was Giovanni - still making his long walk to freedom.  
The officers had to be treated for smoke inhalation, as did one of the more than 60 firefighters who responded to the blaze, which took a half-hour to put out.
Despite his diversion Giovani's bid for freedom was curtailed, when a firefighter picked him up and returned him to Salem. 
He said: "How he make the fire?" he asked, while patting Giovani's shell and tickling his feet.
"But thanks God he is in life. Thank God my family is safe. He was pretty lucky."