Video shows moment a house fire starts after pet dog chews through power bank

Video from the Tulsa Fire Department shows the moment the fire starts

Video footage released by a US Fire Department shows the moment a house fire started and rapidly spread after a pet dog chewed on a portable lithium-ion battery power bank.

In the video, released by the Tulsa Fire Department in Oklahoma on Tuesday, two dogs and a cat can be seen in the living room of a home.

One of the dogs is seen resting on a pillow while chewing on the cable of a white portable charge. Shortly after, there’s a spark out of the battery and a fire starts to spread.

Tulsa Fire Department confirmed the pets escaped the home uninjured through a dog door and the family was also evacuated safely.

Andy Little, public information officer at Tulsa Fire Department, told CBS affiliate KOTV: “The thing that’s important about this situation is how fast you see this fire progress.

“It begins at the top, those heated gases rise, and then, they slowly lower, and you can actually see the whole apartment darken down and then things start combusting in the house.”

Mr Little said that fires like this could happen anywhere, and warned that battery-related fires are becoming more common.

Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries in electrical items. They’re often found in mobile phones, laptops, and e-scooters, for example.

During normal use, these batteries are safe. However, fires can start if they are exposed to extreme heat, are physically damaged, overcharged, or when incompatible charging equipment is used, according to Little.

Fires caused by these batteries spread quickly and can be hard to put out.

In the UK, lithium-ion batteries need to be carefully disposed of.

Fires caused by these batteries in waste has gone up by 71% since 2022, research by the National Fire Chiefs Council and the campaign group Recycle Your Electricals showed.