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Toys R Us offering full refund for owners of 'exploding' motorized toy truck

This is what Delmond and Roxsane Harden looked back and saw as they drove to their home near Bellingham Friday night.

"There was like sparks and smoke coming from inside the box," said Roxsane. "Like fire."

They had just left Everett, having bought a motorized toy truck for their grandson that was sold exclusively by Toys R Us.

They said the sales clerk had mentioned the truck's battery might not hold a charge.

"But they never said a fire?" they were asked.

"Never once said a fire," said Delmond. "And had I known these things burst into flames, no way."

YouTube video shows the Tonka Mighty Dump Truck manufactured by California-based Dynacraft Wheels. The truck runs on a 12-volt battery.

"It's just so many possibilities of what could happen here," says North Seattle College instructor Tim Fiegenbaum.

But Fiegenbaum says the process that makes a battery work produces hydrogen, which is highly flammable.

"So a battery can catch fire?" he was asked.

"Not usually, not usually," he said. "There have been issues with the lithium-ion batteries for a while."

But a lead-acid battery powers this toy truck, not a lithium-ion battery. Nonetheless, at the Toys R Us in Lynnwood, the truck wasn't on any of the shelves.

When the Hardens were told that Toys R Us had pulled the toys, Delmond said: "That is the way to go. Good for Toys R Us."

Toys R Us is offering a refund to anyone who bought and now wants to return the Tonka Mighty Dump Truck.

As for the Hardens, they say they need a new truck. And Toys R Us hasn't said anything about that.

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