A car seat caught fire in Burke County Sunday moments after a mother parked the car, unstrapped her daughter and went inside, fire officials said. The family said hearing their daughter's laughter today is a blessing.

What You Need To Know

  • A button battery in a children's book is what the fire marshal says caused a car seat fire in Burke County Sunday

  • The book was underneath the car seat

  • No one was in the car at the time

Destiny Williams says she and her daughter had just returned home from church when a neighbor told her that her car was smoking.

"What happened, how did it happen?" Williams said. Her daughter's car seat was inside, covered in flames. Williams' uncle put the fire out.

"All of it's really gone. I mean, a majority of it that everybody can see. It's melted. There's no car seat there," Williams said. The fire marshal said the fire was caused by a button battery in a children's Cocomelon book that was located under the seat.

"Normally, there would be a seat here that the child sits on the base. I use it as a book shelf or toy shelf, but originally there was three books there," Williams said.

Sections of the car seat are melted away. The seat is gone. It's a reminder of how fast it happened.

"She's my world. I'm blessed she wasn't in the car seat," Williams said.

The girl's father wants to remind others that this can happen and urges parents to remove all toys or books from their vehicles.

George Hildebran Fire Chief Bobby Craig said their job is more difficult when fires are caused by batteries.

"Many types are harder to put out then before. A keynote would be to try to keep batteries cool," Craig said.

He also said they are thankful that the little girl is unharmed and hope their experience helps to keep others safe in the future.

Jennifer Gamertsfelder contributed to this article