Toddler's light-up shoes may have sparked fire inside SUV
KATY, Texas -- An unusual car fire may have been sparked by a boy's light-up shoes, CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reports.
On Saturday morning, Attila Virag and his wife Jovan noticed a dark haze inside their SUV.
As soon as they opened the door, they could smell burning plastic.
The fire in the backseat burned a hole through the floor, and the passenger seat melted. Jovan Virag called the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office to take a closer look.
"There was nothing else in there to start a fire," she told KHOU-TV. "Only shoes and clothes."
Although the fire marshal's office hasn't officially ruled on the cause of the fire, the office confirmed the toddler's light-up shoe was a possible cause.
That's why the Virags are speaking out to warn other families.
"I'm just glad that my son wasn't wearing it at the time," said Jovan Virag, "and if he had been wearing it, I don't know if he could have told me, 'My foot's hot,' and I don't think he could take it off by himself."
Her 2-1/2-year-old son Warren now can't wear his favorite "Jake and The Never Land Pirates" sneakers anymore.
Half of one of the shoes was burned away. There was nothing left except a sizzled, charred battery and wiring.
Attila Virag dissected the one that didn't burn and discovered lithium batteries power the flashing lights.
"I didn't know there was a little lithium battery in there that could be flammable if you short it," he said.
The parents vowed not to buy the same type of shoe anymore.
"I don't want this to happen to somebody else, and we're lucky it happened in our car because that can be fixed," said Jovan Virag.
The couple plans to reach out to Payless, where they bought the shoes last week.