Pig poops out a pedometer, starts a fire

Pig poops out a pedometer, starts a fire

By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer March 09, 2020

Copper in the battery sparked the pigpen blaze.

https://www.livescience.com/pig-stars-battery-fire.html

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The firebug (firehog?) had swallowed a pedometer worn by one of its fellow pigs to demonstrate that the animals were free range, the BBC reported.

But after the pig excreted the pedometer, copper in its battery sparked a flame in the pig dung and dried hay bedding on March 7 at approximately 2 p.m. local time, according to the BBC. The fire spread to cover about 807 square feet (75 square meters) of the farmyard before it was contained, according to The Independent.

Four pigpens caught fire at the farm, located near Leeds in the county of Yorkshire, and fire crews from nearby Tadcaster and Knaresbororough rushed in with hoses to "save the bacon," the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service tweeted on March 7.

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In Yorkshire, firefighters responded to a blaze that enveloped several pigpens at a local farm on March 7.(Image credit: Russell Jenkinson/North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue)

In recent years, lithium-ion batteries in personal devices such as cellphones and vape pens have spontaneously combusted, sometimes causing severe burns and even broken bones, Live Science previously reported.

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No animals were hurt in this event.