Vacuum battery starts fire in Leander home, kills house cats
LEANDER, Texas - On Good Friday, Shaun Noll watched his family run out of their Leander home on his Ring doorbell camera.
Moments before the internet disconnected, the camera also captured firefighters making their way into his house full of flames.
The fire was out in about 30 minutes, but it could take months to rebuild.
"Wow, just, we really lost everything," said Noll. "I thought it would maybe just be limited to the living room, but that wasn't the case."
From floor to ceiling, the fire warped, melted, and burned everything in its path. Even the once-white walls are now a smokey black.
Noll said his kids inside the house noticed the smoke coming from a battery for a cordless vacuum that was charging. They unplugged it from the wall as soon as they realized what was happening, but it was too late.
"The battery had a charging port already," said Noll. "It just went straight from the wall directly into the battery. It was just sitting there on the corner because we had the house cleaned a couple of days ago."
Fire investigators quickly confirmed the flames started because of an overheated lithium-ion battery.
"I've always left that battery plugged in," said Noll. "It's never been a thought that's crossed my mind."
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Noll's kids inside escaped to safety, but two of the family's four cats did not.
"Within the span of 30 minutes, this is something I never thought would have happened to me," said Noll.
Noll hopes others will hear his story and learn from him.
"If you have all these devices plugged in throughout your home, unplug them immediately," said Noll. "Don't leave them charging overnight. Once it's charged, just take that extra second to go and disconnect it, so this doesn't happen to you."
But in Noll's devastating precautionary tale, he said there's also some good.
His community was quick to launch a drive for donations.
"Just that outpouring of support and things given to us has been nothing short of a miracle and a blessing," said Noll.
His sister, Amanda, started a GoFundMe for Noll.
There are also bins in front of his home for people to drop off physical donations. His address is 1814 Southcreek Dr, Leander, TX 78664.