Oklahoma dog lights up Tulsa home in flames after chewing through powerbank battery
An astonishing piece of home security video captured the exact moment a playful dog unintentionally set a house ablaze in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The unlikely culprit behind the blaze? A lithium-ion battery power bank that the curious pet decided to treat like a chew toy.
The Tulsa Fire Department posted the footage from an indoor pet camera, which shows a white dog watching its brown companion and a black cat resting nearby as it gnaws on the rechargeable power bank. In an instant, the three animals scatter in alarm as the battery erupts in a shower of bright sparks.
The cushioned pet bed that the damaged battery was resting on fed the fierce fire that broke out within seconds. The dogs initially barked at the spreading flames before retreating. Through a pet door, the animals managed to make a safe escape, with their human family following close behind.
The Tulsa-area home sustained heavy damage before firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control. The department originally assisted with the fire back in May 2024, then shared the dramatic clip publicly on its Facebook page on July 31, 2024, to raise awareness about how quickly damaged lithium-ion batteries can turn deadly. The original surveillance footage was released specifically as a teaching tool for households across the country.
“Lithium-ion batteries are known for storing a significant amount of energy in a compact space,” explained Andy Little, public information officer for the Tulsa Fire Department. “However, when this energy is released uncontrollably, it can generate heat, produce flammable and toxic gases, and even lead to explosions.”
Little stressed that the situation could have ended in tragedy. “The outcome could have been much worse if there had been no means of escape or if the family was asleep at the time,” he said. The battery the dog bit through was an ordinary portable power bank of the kind millions of people use to charge their cell phones every day.
Craig Deerinwater, a member of the local firefighters’ union, echoed those concerns when the footage drew national attention, noting that crews arrived on scene quickly and that the incident underscores just how severe the risks tied to these everyday batteries have become.
The fire department advised residents to store batteries out of reach of children and pets and to dispose of damaged batteries at proper recycling centers rather than tossing them in household trash, where they can ignite during compaction. It is worth noting that although these batteries are found in nearly every home, many people remain unaware of the hazards they can pose. A similar lack of caution has fueled other dangerous incidents involving everyday hazards, much like other unsettling fire-related stories out of Oklahoma that have made headlines.
“These incidents can occur due to various reasons, such as exposure to extreme heat, physical damage to the battery, overcharging, or even using incompatible charging equipment,” Little added. “Many individuals keep these batteries within their homes for convenience, unaware of the potential dangers they pose.”
A warning that has only grown louder
The Tulsa clip turned out to be an early example of a problem that fire departments nationwide have been sounding alarms about ever since. The danger stems from a chemical chain reaction called thermal runaway, in which a damaged or failing cell heats uncontrollably — temperatures inside a single cell can rocket from around 212°F to roughly 1,800°F in about a second, igniting anything nearby.
The scale of the threat has climbed sharply. The Fire Department of the City of New York reported a 53% surge in structural fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in early 2025 compared with the prior year, with e-bikes, scooters, and aftermarket battery packs driving much of the increase. In August 2025, the FDNY went a step further and issued a public service announcement warning against home-based battery “workshops,” after crews found roughly 100 batteries burning in the cellar of a single Queens home and discovered another stash of devices being tinkered with in the Bronx just a week later. Fire officials have repeatedly cautioned that residents who try to fight these fires themselves often end up seriously injured.
Watch this explainer on how lithium-ion batteries fail and why thermal runaway makes them so unpredictable:
Safety agencies offer consistent guidance for keeping a household out of harm’s way. The U.S. Fire Administration urges people to buy only certified products, use the charger that came with a device, avoid charging while asleep or on top of beds and sofas, and never store batteries at temperatures below 32°F or above 105°F. The agency warns that any odor, discoloration, excess heat, swelling, leaking, or odd noises means a battery should be taken out of service immediately. The National Fire Protection Association offers similar recommendations and reminds consumers that lithium-ion batteries should never go in the regular garbage.
For pet owners especially, the Tulsa footage is a reminder that curious animals do not understand the difference between a chew toy and a power bank. Keeping chargers, loose batteries, and portable power packs well out of reach is a small habit that can prevent a catastrophe — a lesson that resonates with anyone who has followed stories about animals caught up in dangerous situations through no fault of their own. In the Tulsa case, the family was fortunate: every pet escaped uninjured, and the only casualty was the house itself.
