A cell phone battery is believed to have started a small fire in a pile of clothing in a High Ridge home Sunday night (June 4).
The clothing, which was in a closet, first began to smolder and then caught fire, said Fire Marshal Ron Tisius of the High Ridge Fire Protection District.
The district was called at about 9 p.m. to the home, in the 5300 block of Cinphany Court. When firefighters arrived, there was a light haze of smoke in the building, Tisius said, but the homeowners had already put out the fire with a garden hose.
“They discovered it right away and were on it,” he said.
Firefighters “overhauled” the debris, putting it outside the house.
Tisius said a lithium battery among the clothes was in close proximity to a belt buckle and a metal button was able to make a connection that caused the battery to heat up and set the clothes on fire.
“It wasn’t much of a fire,” he said.
Tisius advised people to dispose of cell phone batteries in a safe manner.
There was no damage to the building, Tisius said.