VIDEO: An Alpine family woke up to panicked horses and a disturbing sight near their house: the remnants of burned sky lantern.
"Noticed the horses were panicking and running back and forth in their pens," said Lucy Olivier.
Along Japatul Valley Road, Olivier and her husband woke up Saturday morning to terrified horses, bathed in sweat. One of them had injured his leg. The source of the horses' fear was just feet away: the burned-out remnants of a sky lantern. Banned in California, the small hot air balloons use candles to spark their flight.
In the one Olivier discovered, there were birthday candles sitting on popsicle sticks, attached to straws and a large garbage bag. It landed near dry brush not far from the main house, an ominous sight in an area prone to wildfires.