Chapel Hill dog goes viral after nearly setting house on fire

A Chapel Hill dog’s misadventure has gone viral after he nearly set his owner’s house on fire.

Colton was home alone, when the lithium battery inside a device he was playing with burst into flames, reported ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner..

The fire went out on its own quickly. Colton was not hurt, and the only damage was to the rug, which was destroyed.

His owner, Chapel Hill firefighter David Sasser, shared the surprising video to stress the importance of safely storing devices with lithium batteries.

Sasser’s security system alerted him about the fire, WRAL reported.

“[My] heart sank. I had no idea what was going on,” he told WRAL. “I had no clue what it could possibly be and came home to find that the rug had burned up.”

On its Facebook page, the Chapel Hill Fire Department said the battery in the video was charged and unplugged, but it wasn’t stored safely.

“Colton was able to get the battery, break its protective features by chewing on it, and ended up causing a fire. Thankfully, he wasn’t injured, and other than some smoke damage and a ruined rug, the house is fine,” the post stated.

“On the heels of Fire Prevention Week, we want to remind you how important it is to safely charge, store, and use lithium ion batteries,” it stated.

The video of the fire accompanying the department’s Facebook post had received 21,000 reactions and been shared nearly 10,000 times as of Thursday morning.

Learn more: https://www.nfpa.org/.../home-fire.../lithium-ion-batteries

This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 8:53 AM with the headline "Chapel Hill dog goes viral after nearly setting house on fire."