Health Canada is warning about the potential dangers of a seemingly benign gift item this holiday season.
The agency says it's received about 100 reports over the last year concerning batteries.
Andrew Hulan, a product safety officer with Health Canada, says the reports cover everything from overheating to starting fires.
He says in most cases the cause is people not following the instructions that come with the batteries, particularly when it comes to storing or charging them.
Damien Morris of Charlottetown witnessed that danger first-hand.
He had a few extra batteries left over after powering some Christmas decorations, and tossed them in a drawer for future use.
But the batteries were touching each other in a way that caused them to overheat, and they caught fire in the middle of the night.
Morris says he's glad he was home when it started, and he hopes more people heed the warnings about battery safety.