Oven at Chesterfield residence explodes after it was turned on with a handgun inside

CHESTERFIELD − Fire crews responding to a call Thursday night about an oven exploding quickly found out the cause. It seems a gun was inside it and went off when the oven was turned on.

No one was injured in the incident at a county residence, the Chesterfield Fire & EMS Department posted on its Facebook page Friday, but officials said this time, everyone was lucky.

The explosion prompted a small fire, and damage was pretty much contained to the appliance itself. The interesting discovery of the cause happened after the fire was put out.

"When firefighters opened the oven to investigate, they found a handgun inside," the post read. "It turns out, someone turned the oven on with the gun inside, the weapon heated up, and five rounds went off."

Photos accompanying the post showed the handgun melted onto one of the oven racks and the glass blown out on the oven door.

"Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the situation could have turned out much differently," the Facebook post stated.

Authorities used the incident to offer a teachable takeaway about not using an oven for general storage of anything, much less guns.

"While this is an extreme example, these pictures show why you should never store anything in your oven," the post stated. "When you place any item in the oven it is easy to forget it is there, which can lead to a fire or something worse when you turn it on."

It also served as a reminder about residential gun safety.

"You should also make sure to properly store your firearms," the department said. "Keep them somewhere secure, like a gun safe."

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Oven at Chesterfield residence explodes after it was turned on with a handgun inside