Chihuahua causes freak house fire after chewing mobile phone

London, Feb 10 (ANI): A pet Chihuahua in Britain is said to have caused a freak house fire when it decided to chew on a mobile phone belong to its owner.

Lily the Chihuahua apparently chewed through a Samsung handset and dislodged the battery while gnawing on it. The dog's saliva is believed to have caused a chemical reaction with the lithium in the phone's battery, and the heat from the reaction then ignited the carpet.

The incident had taken place as nine-year-old Aysha, who owns the phone, was sleeping.

When the smoke alarm went off, her mum Lynn Sayed, 45, who was watching TV downstairs with her friend Stephanie Demarco, rushed upstairs and grabbed her daughter before fleeing from the house.

A search of the house in South Shields, Tyneside, revealed the badly dented battery had scorched into the carpet.

"It has left us all shocked. Who would have thought a mobile phone battery would catch fire?" the Daily Mail quoted Lynn as saying.

"It has scared us as to what could have happened. Not only that, a neighbour said her little boy is always playing with her mobile phone.

"What if this had of been a child with the phone in their mouth when this happened?" she questioned. (ANI)