WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Kansas fire department is asking people to be more careful about what they throw away.

The Mulvane Fire Department was called to a vehicle fire Wednesday afternoon. The driver of a trash truck had smelled something burning and pulled over to call 911.

When firefighters arrived, they found smoke coming from the back of the truck. In the trash bay, a firefighter discovered a discarded laptop computer with a lithium battery that was heating up.

The department said it was able to remove the battery from the truck and flood the truck with water to cool off the trash. This is the second incident involving a lithium battery crews have responded to this month, according to Mulvane Fire.

Lithium is highly reactive, and when batteries are damaged, they can heat up uncontrollably. The reaction cascades, with the battery getting hotter and hotter until all of the lithium is consumed. In some cases, when exposed to oxygen, lithium can ignite instantly.

The fire department is urging residents to never throw computers or anything with batteries in the trash. Sedgwick County offers this free recycling guide with information on how to properly dispose of a wide variety of household goods and chemicals.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A power outage is affecting parts of the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium, leaving some areas and services temporarily limited.

The Zoo announced the outage on Wednesday morning, June 17, saying the webstore and other services may be unavailable while crews work to restore power.

Evergy’s outage map shows the disruption – located near the zoo – is affecting 17 customers. The outage was first reported just before 8:50 a.m. Power is expected to be restored around 10:30 a.m.

The Zoo is asking for the public’s patience as Evergy works to resolve the issue.

The cause of the outage has not yet been identified.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A car crash turned into a homicide investigation for Kansas City police.

Officers found a car that had crashed into a pole at Truman and Bennington around 6:30 p.m. on June 16. They discovered a man inside the car with critical injuries.

Emergency crews transported the man to a hospital. As he was treated at the hospital, doctors determined he’d been shot. The man died from his injuries, according to police.

Detectives are investigating the shooting as a homicide.

They are looking for witnesses or anyone who witnessed the shooting or the crash. Anyone who has information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS or the police department at 816-234-5043. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest.