Solar light causes fire that engulfs TN home in 20 minutes — owner says he got the 'little decorative' item off Amazon. Check now if you're at risk

"I'd never seen fire act like this," Brad told Nashville's WSMV (1).

Within 20 minutes, the house was gone. Brad, Melissa, and their 13-year-old grandson escaped with only the clothes on their backs. After 36 years of marriage, everything they owned was ash.

For Melissa, the hardest losses can't be replaced. "Your videos, the things that we could not run upstairs and grab," she said to WSMV. "Those are the moments you can't get back because you can't hear your little children's voices anymore."

Now months later, the couple learned why.

According to both the local fire investigator and an independent forensic firm hired by the Oskins' insurance company, there was no electricity, no gas, and no other credible ignition source on the exterior of the deck. The fire, they determined, was most consistent with a lithium-ion battery failure — inside a small decorative solar-powered light.

A $20 pack of lights, and no warning label

Brad had bought the solar lights on Amazon: a 10-pack under the brand WdtPro, model TDL012, marketed as "Outdoor Solar Light, IP65 Waterproof." The listing didn't mention they contained lithium-ion batteries. Brad only discovered this after dissecting a leftover light from the package, which White House Fire Investigator Josh Wright confirmed.

The lights carried no UL, ETL, or CSA certification — meaning they'd never been tested by a recognized safety laboratory. Most WdtPro products appear to be manufactured in China. The listing is now marked "currently unavailable."

Wright told WSMV it was a first for him: "I've never seen one that's caused by solar light that has a lithium-ion battery in 'em."

It may be a first for a garden light destroying a home, but cheap lithium-powered lights have killed before. In 2024, Good Earth Lighting recalled 1.2 million rechargeable lights — one of which was linked to a consumer death — after lithium-ion batteries inside the units overheated, sparking six fires and leading to property damage.

Lithium-ion batteries charge a nationwide crisis

The Oskins' fire could be the first blamed on a solar garden light, but it is part of a much larger and accelerating problem.

The CPSC has documented more than 25,000 incidents of fire or overheating involving lithium-ion batteries between 2017 and 2022, across over 400 product types (2). UL Solutions' Fire Safety Research Institute recorded at least 445 incidents across North America in 2023 alone, resulting in 214 injuries and 38 fatalities (3). In New York City — ground zero for this crisis — lithium-ion batteries have caused more than 1,000 fires since 2019, killing 39 people and injuring 523 (4).

The problem isn't limited to e-bikes. Last July, Moneywise reported on Dustin Harpe, a Wisconsin father with quadriplegia who lost his accessible dream home after a lithium-ion drone battery exploded on his desk. It leveled the house in 45 minutes. The pattern repeats: a small, inexpensive, battery-powered product — and a catastrophic outcome nobody expected.

Regulators are trying to fix the problem, but are stalled

Congress has shown bipartisan appetite for action. The Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act passed the House in April 2025 (5), and the Senate companion advanced unanimously through committee (6). Fire chiefs have urged lawmakers to get it signed.

But the CPSC — the agency tasked with enforcing safety standards — has been in turmoil. The commission voted 3-2 in April 2025 to propose a lithium battery safety rule. Days later, President Trump fired the three Democratic commissioners who formed that majority — part of a broader administration push to assert control over independent federal agencies.

The remaining two Republicans immediately withdrew the rule (7). A federal judge briefly reinstated the fired commissioners, but the Supreme Court sided with the administration in July, allowing the removals to stand while litigation continues. The acting chair resubmitted the rule to the White House regulatory review office in August 2025, but it has not yet advanced.

And even if both the legislation and the rule survive, they target micromobility devices specifically — e-bikes, scooters, hoverboards. Cheap consumer electronics like outdoor solar lights currently sit outside that scope, with no mandatory federal safety testing.

Meanwhile, Amazon's legal exposure is shifting. In July 2024, the CPSC unanimously ruled the company is a "distributor" under federal safety law and bears recall liability for hazardous products sold by third-party sellers through Fulfilled by Amazon (8). Amazon has since tightened UL requirements for some electronics categories — but outdoor solar lights don't appear to be among them.

How to protect yourself

Wright offered a blunt rule of thumb when speaking with WSMV: "Anything that you plug in to charge, for it to function, not being plugged in, it most likely has a lithium-ion battery in it."

Look for "UL," "ETL," or "CSA." These stamps mean a product has been tested by a nationally recognized safety lab. The Tennessee State Fire Marshal's office confirmed all three are recognized by OSHA. No stamp? Don’t use it.

Read the listing. The Oskins' lights never disclosed they contained a lithium-ion battery. If a listing doesn't tell you the battery type, that's a red flag.