If you’re planning to shop for a pair of boys light-up shoes you might want to skip Payless ShoeSource, as the retailer has pulled the footwear while fire officials in Texas investigate a fire that may be linked to the sneakers.
On Tuesday, Payless told Houston’s KPRC-TV that the shoe store chain had taken the “Jake and the Neverland Pirates” Lighted Runner light-up shoes off store shelves until an investigation can be completed.
The retailer’s decision to stop selling the shoes comes after a Texas family said the shoes caught fire in their vehicle over the weekend.
The parents say their two-year-old son had kicked off his shoes and left them in the family vehicle on Friday night. When they went to the car on Saturday they found the backseat charred and the shoes scorched.
While an official cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, the family believes it was caused by the small lithium battery used in the shoes.
“You don’t think about … a blinky shoe,” the woman tells KPRC. “It’s cool. You don’t think about the risks.”
Payless said on Tuesday that it had removed the shoes “out of an abundance of caution” from all stores “until we can thoroughly investigate a customer claim regarding that shoe.”
“First and foremost, safety is always a top priority at Payless and we take the claim made by the customer seriously,” the retailer said. “We have contacted the family, and we will work with them and local authorities to better understand the circumstances of the fire and what may have caused it.”
Although local fire officials say they are investigating the incident, it’s unclear if the issue has been reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We’ve reached out to the agency for comment and will update this post when we hear back.
Payless pulls light-up shoes family believes caused car fire from shelves [KPRC]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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