A family’s dog accidentally started a house fire after chewing on a lithium-ion battery, according to the Chapel Hill Fire Department.
Chapel Hill is in North Carolina, west of Raleigh.
Fire officials said the incident involved Colton, the family’s dog, who got into trouble while his owners — a Chapel Hill Fire Department family — were away from home.
Colton reportedly jumped onto a counter, grabbed a device containing a lithium-ion battery, and chewed through its protective casing.
The department said the battery had been charged and unplugged, was not part of any recall, but wasn’t stored safely.
The damage from the fire was limited to a rug and some smoke, and Colton escaped unharmed.
“Colton is a good boy, but he counter-surfed while his humans were away and got hold of a device with a lithium-ion battery,” the department said in a social media post.
Fire officials shared the story as a reminder to properly charge, store, and handle lithium-ion batteries.
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