Family terrified after children's book starts fire under car seat

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. (WJZY) — Pictures of a child’s car seat, melted and mangled, tell a terrifying story for a North Carolina family after investigators say a button battery, made of lithium, inside a children’s book caught fire underneath the car seat.

Destiny Williams said she had just returned from church Sunday when it happened. She got her 1-year-old daughter out of the car seat and went inside to make lunch.

Minutes later, she said, "A neighbor came knocking on my door and said, ‘Hey, your car’s smoking."

She ran outside and saw her minivan on fire. A family member used a garden hose to knock out the flames.

“I was honestly frightened,” said Williams’ husband, Pressley Williams.

Fire officials released a picture of a damaged back of a children’s book, the spot where they suspect a lithium battery in the book overheated, starting the fire. The flames were so hot, they partially melted the car seat.

“It’s just crazy to me to think that would ever happen with a children’s book,” said Destiny Williams.

“I was honestly shocked because I didn’t think a book could do that, especially a toddler’s book, and you would think you would have warning labels,” said Pressley Williams.

But warning labels aren't always put on products and toys with these types of batteries, explained Chief Bobby Craig of the George Hildebran Fire Department. Lithium batteries are common, and they can catch fire when they overheat.

Pressley Williams said he tries not to think about what might have happened to his little girl, Misty, if she had been in that car seat.

“My initial thought is what if it did happen because I would be without a daughter and a wife,” he said.