This morning’s routine garbage collection took a frightening turn after improperly disposed of lithium batteries sparked a massive garbage truck fire in Port Chester.

“It probably got crushed in the trash compactor,” said Angelo Sposta, chief of the Port Chester Fire Department. “Someone threw it in the trash.”

Firefighters and the Department of Public Works were called to the corner of Gilbert Place and Touraine Avenue around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Garbage collectors properly dumped the burning garbage from the back of the truck onto the street, according to Port Chester Fire Chief Angelo Sposta.

“It could be a scooter, a toy, a battery-powered drill or something like that,” he said.

A video taken by witnesses showed rescue workers rushing to the scene and pouring water on the burning pile of garbage, causing smoke to rise. No one was injured, but at least one car and several power lines were charred.

A neighbor was speechless at the sight from her front window.

“I heard an explosion,” said Port Chester resident Rose Joyce. “The bedroom is right here and faces the street, and I ran to the window.”

The Westchester County Hazardous Materials Team was on the scene along with firefighters and construction crews, searching every inch of the trash pile for hours to find and remove additional lithium batteries to prevent further fires from flaring up.

Most of the trash was cleared away shortly after 11 a.m. and placed in a special dumpster that will sit in the back of the Port Chester Department of Public Works yard for the next week before being disposed of, said Stuart Rabin, Port Chester’s community manager.

Joe Mecca, Port Chester’s garbage disposal manager, said the public needs to be more careful about what they throw away.

“The danger comes from the chemicals that people throw away, from the batteries, as he said. You never know what’s in those bags,” he said. “You have to be careful.”

Shortly before noon, the small dead end street was reopened.