Dog starts fire in Orléans home after chewing lithium-ion battery

An Orléans family had a close call after their dog started a fire on Thursday morning.

Internal security footage shared by the owners shows a dog on the couch chewing on a black ski glove; it, however, had a heating component charged by a lithium-ion battery. All of a sudden, the dog gets up, and the battery begins to smoke. Soon after, the dog retreats, but watching the smoke waft as the battery bursts into flames.

At around 9:07 a.m., firefighters were called by a monitoring company reporting a fire alarm in a two-storey, single-family home in the 200 block of Bevington Walk.

Firefighters were told by the monitoring agency that the homeowner was en route, and confirmed through security cameras that there was an active fire. Further calls came in from people driving past the house, seeing flames from the home.

Crews arrived in four minutes and found heavy smoke and flames coming from a first-storey bay window at the front. They initiated a fast attack and quickly doused the fire. A team went inside the home and continued extinguishing the fire, while other crew members searched the residence and carried the dog outside, who was uninjured.

By 9:23 a.m., firefighters had the incident under control and prevented the flames from spreading to other areas of the house. More searches were completed, confirming no one, except the dog, was inside.

One adult, a child and the dog have been displaced as a result of the fire.

Officials are sharing this story as a tale of caution since lithium-ion batteries can fail and ignite if damaged.

“Lithium-ion batteries can pose a serious fire risk if they are damaged, punctured, crushed, or improperly handled,” Ottawa Fire Service said in a statement. “Residents are reminded to store items containing lithium-ion batteries safely, keep them out of reach of pets and children, and immediately stop using and properly dispose of any battery or device that shows signs of damage, swelling, overheating, or malfunction.”