ZURICH—It must rank among the easiest fires ever to put out.

Zurich authorities say police and firefighters were called to the house of an elderly woman early Thursday after she reported her television set was burning.

When they arrived, they discovered no signs of fire or smoke.

They found instead that the TV was tuned into a German station that in the early morning hours aired the constant image of a fireplace.

“The fire was extinguished with the press of a button,” police said in a statement.