Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Woman sees snake in yard. Woman becomes frightened. Woman dumps gasoline on snake. Woman lights gasoline-soaked snake on fire. Flaming snake tears across woman’s yard and into a pile of brush. Brush catches fire. Fire spreads to woman’s house. Woman’s house burns down.

Authorities believe a homeowner’s response to finding a snake in her yard may have led to the fire that destroyed her house Wednesday.

The fire sparked at a home on Will Smith Road in the Liberty Eylau area of Bowie County, TX just before 7 p.m.

“While cleaning up, she saw a snake, threw gasoline on the snake, lit the snake on fire,” said Deputy Randall Baggett with the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office. “The snake went into the brush pile and the brush pile caught the home on fire.”

Despite the efforts of several fire departments that responded to the scene, the flames completely engulfed the home. It is a complete loss. A neighboring home was also damaged on one side. [KSLA]