Chapel Hill, North Carolina – A family dog narrowly caused a fire at the home of a Chapel Hill firefighter after chewing on a device with a lithium-ion battery. Security camera footage captured the moment the device began emitting thick smoke on the living room rug.

The dog, named Colton, jumped back as the device erupted into flames. The fire quickly spread across the rug, prompting immediate action from the household.

Owner David Sasser, a firefighter with the Chapel Hill Fire Department, said he received an alert from his security system. “I had no idea what was going on. I had no clue what it could possibly be and came home to find that the rug had burned up,” Sasser explained. He confirmed that the fire did not spread beyond the rug and that Colton was unharmed.

The department’s Facebook post noted, “Colton is a good boy, but he counter-surfed while his humans (a CHFD family) were away and got hold of a device with a lithium ion battery.”

Sasser emphasized that the incident serves as a warning about fire safety at home, particularly regarding items pets can access. “We learned to be really aware of things in our home and to operate them safely,” he said.

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