BURKE COUNTY, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina authorities determined the cause of a car fire in Burke County was a children’s book.
A child’s car seat caught fire when a “button battery” in a children’s book caught fire after it was left in the car on Sunday, according to the George Hildebran Fire Department. The family had exited the car before the fire started, officials said.
Destiny Williams and her daughter Misty came home from church that day and went into the house, Williams told WSOC. Then she noticed smoke coming from the car.
A neighbor eventually put out the fire with a garden hose, WSOC reported. After the fire was extinguished, the fire marshal’s office was called to the scene, authorities said.
“My first thought was, ‘What if it had happened?’ Because if it had happened (with them in the car), I would be without a daughter and a wife,” the girl’s father, Pressley Williams, told WBTV.
One of the numerous books near the charred car seat was believed to contain a lithium battery, which can catch fire if it overheats, according to the Burke County Fire Marshal’s Office.
