Oklahoma Pooch Starts House Fire by Chewing on Portable Phone Charger

It seems dogs can be “arsonists” too—as a pooch in Oklahoma was seen accidentally starting a house fire by chewing on a portable phone charger.

Knewz.com has learned that footage of the incident was shared by the Tulsa Fire Department on social media, along with a word of warning.

Fortunately, the culprit, along with its other fur siblings were unharmed in the incident—although the house suffered significant damage.

The footage showed one of the dogs in the household walking around with a portable phone charger in its mouth.

The dog seemed to comfortably settle down on a mattress with its newfound “chew toy,” and began gnawing on the power bank and the cable attached to it.

Suddenly, the dog seemingly sensed something and let go of the partially damaged phone charger moments before it could be seen emitting minor sparks.

As soon as the dog – and the other dogs in the room – get away from it, the portable charger burst into flames right on top of the mattress.

The culprit could be seen helplessly barking at the growing fire that gradually engulfed the mattress before spreading to a sofa in the vicinity.

As the dogs escaped from the situation, smoke filled the room and the fire grew to an alarming size.

The clip cuts to fire department personnel responding to the Tulsa, Oklahoma, residence, and the dogs could be seen safe at the hands of firefighters.

Sharing the footage on Facebook, the Tulsa Fire Department wrote, “We responded to a house fire in May that was caused by a damaged lithium-ion battery.”

“While the home was significantly damaged, their two dogs and cat escaped the home uninjured through a dog door.”

“Fire departments all over the country are seeing fires related to these batteries and we want the public to learn about usage, safe storage and proper disposal of these potentially dangerous batteries,” the post further wrote.

Lithium-ion batteries, which are used to power portable phone chargers, among other devices , have the capacity to store a considerable amount of energy that is released when it suffers damage.

“When this energy is released uncontrollably, it can generate heat, produce flammable and toxic gases and even lead to explosions,” Tulsa Fire Department spokesperson Andy Little explained, according to reports.

“These incidents can occur due to various reasons, such as exposure to extreme heat, physical damage to the battery, overcharging or even using incompatible charging equipment,” he added.

Mr. Little further said that the situation would have been much worse if the pets had not found a way to escape, or if the family had been sleeping in the house when the fire started.

“Had there not been a dog door, they very well could have passed away,” he was quoted as saying.

“It is crucial that you adhere to manufacturer guidelines when using lithium-ion batteries, only using approved chargers and storing them out of reach of children and pets,” he added, according to CBS News .

In terms of additional precautions, Mr. Little said, “We don’t want people to charge devices right at the exit. Put it somewhere else, so if it should start a fire, they would have a way to get out of their home.”

Dr. Troy McNamara at the Animal Emergency Center in Tulsa said in a statement that he has seen an increasing number of cases related to batteries, and explained that pets chewing on or swallowing batteries poses three types of risks.

First, pets can poison themselves if they accidentally ingest battery acid, which is toxic. Dr. McNamara suggested that pet owners should immediately consult a doctor if their pets show signs of battery poisoning, which include throwing up, diarrhea, and trouble breathing.

“The second is the physical damage if they do chew them… [Batteries] have sharp edges, which can cut. And then the third is going to be if they actually get obstructed, so they get stuck in the stomach or intestines along the way,” the doctor said.