Trending Topics

Child’s aerosol spray ignites, causing N.C. vehicle explosion

One person was hospitalized with burns after a child sprayed a highly flammable aerosol inside a parked vehicle while an adult was smoking

By Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer

LENOIR, N.C. — A child inadvertently blew up a smoker after spraying the adult with a highly flammable aerosol, North Carolina investigators say.

The accident happened around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, inside a Kia Soul parked at the Gamewell Superette on U.S. 64 near Lenior, according to Caldwell Fire, EMS and Police Live.

| REGISTER: Smart tools, strategic choices: EMS puts AI into action

“One person hospitalized with burns and a car heavily damaged after firefighters say a flammable aerosol can exploded inside the vehicle,” the website reported in a June 12 Facebook post. “There were two people including a child inside the car at the time. ... The can exploded when a child sprayed it while an adult was smoking in the vehicle.”

The spray was “a duster-type product that contained propane, Isobutane, n-Butane, and Hydrocarbon propellent,” county officials said.

First responders did not say which of the two people in the vehicle was hospitalized.

The Gamewell Superette is about a 75-mile drive northwest from Charlotte.

Trending
Pittsburgh EMS joined agencies nationwide in Arlington to honor fallen EMS providers
Ask almost any rural medic and you’ll hear the same thing: Lower call volume doesn’t make the job easier; it changes what makes it hard.
A $328,000 state grant will cover tuition for 131 Oakland Community College EMS students as West Bloomfield works to strengthen workforce
Grand Haven Township Fire Chief Shawn Schrader said his crews shifted from rescue and fire suppression to preserving a crime scene

©2026 The Charlotte Observer.
Visit charlotteobserver.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.