Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

Firefighters in Belgium who were called out to a flat by a woman over a burning smell discovered that the culprit was an overheating vibrator, with the woman then apparently playing dumb and saying “Wow, what’s that”.

The incident took place in Turnhout, a Belgian municipality and city located in the Flemish province of Antwerp, on Saturday morning (28th May).

The fire brigade were called out to the apartment by its concerned resident, in the central Kasteelplein area of the city after the smell of burning was detected coming from the apartment.

At first, it was not immediately clear where the smell was coming from and the fire department had to use a thermal imaging camera to work out what the source of the burning smell was.

Thanks to the special camera, they were able to determine that the source of the heat and smell was coming from a cupboard in the flat.

They opened the cupboard and found that it contained a vibrator that had overheated and even partially melted.

It is currently unclear what caused the vibrator to overheat. The firefighters secured the vibrator and made it safe, bringing an end to the intervention.

Local media reported that there was no fire damage in the apartment. The identity of the resident who called the fire department has not been revealed.

But officer Nick Eelen told local media: “I have a lot of experience in interventions, but I had not experienced this yet.”

He said that the female resident had been quite surprised by the find. Eelen said: “Wow, what’s that here,’ she said. The vibrator was on a wooden box and was not hanging on the charger, although it also felt warm. What exactly happened, we guessed it, but at a certain point there was a short circuit in the battery of the vibrator.”

He added: “In theory, the silicone simply melts and it is over, but if such a device is in a combustible place – such as in this case a wooden box – there could be a fire hazard.”

He recommended that people remove the charger from any wall sockets if they are away from home and keep a close eye on their appliances.