AirPods caught fire

FYI, never charge things on a soft surface. This goes for phones, tablets and computers as well. The soft surface prevents heat from disapating properly.

Please understand I'm not suggesting this is your fault. It's just some advice for the future.

Contact Apple support.

This is a user to user support forum, there is nothing we can do for you.

It's lucky you were able to catch this in time before it became something far worse.

Not sure what you can do besides replacing them and thinking yourself very lucky to be honest.

I find that Apple cables are generally good quality but as soon as it starts to feel a little less flexible than normal, you should get rid. I had one that I failed to spot was getting a little bit 'crunchy' and when I picked my phone up I found the cable rather hot near the phone with the plastic sheathing starting to go dark yellow and split. Once they are on the way out they don't take long to fail dramatically.

It could just be the lighting but the cable is starting to look yellow towards the bottom of the picture, away from the mini inferno. If you see that it really should be replaced.

All the best.