TROY, Mich. — Immediately before fire erupted in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber where 5-year-old Thomas Cooper was receiving treatment in late January, the boy's knee may have touched the mattress, possibly causing static electricity to build up and lead to the spark that started the blaze, according to an expert on hyperbaric chambers.

Testifying Tuesday in Troy's 52-4 District Court, hyperbaric expert Francois Burman, who conducts safety surveys of recompression and clinical hyperbaric facilities internationally and is a frequent lecturer on hyperbaric safety topics, said Thomas was not wearing a grounding strap. Burman said a grounding strap could have prevented the instantaneous fire that broke out in the chamber Jan. 31, killing the Royal Oak boy.

"You could see very clearly when he moved the sheet off the actual mattress," Burman said, speaking of his review of the video of the fire. "I saw him turn over and his knee appeared to touch the mattress, and that's when the initial spark occurred. Within the next second, everything inside the chamber was alight."

Tamela Peterson, the owner and CEO of the Oxford Center, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, along with safety director Jeffrey Mollester and primary manager Gary Marken.

The hyperbaric chamber's operator, Aleta Moffitt, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information on a medical record. Burman testified during the second day of their preliminary examination, where District Judge Maureen McGinnis will decide if there is enough evidence for them to stand trial.

All four are accused of disregarding safety protocols and failing to follow the manufacturer's recommended guidelines for hyperbaric treatment, according to the Michigan Attorney General's Office.

It is standard practice to use a grounding strap on a patient inside a hyperbaric chamber, Burman said, and they should not receive treatment without one. The strap, along with other grounded areas in and outside the chamber, make it so little static electricity can accumulate on the patient.

More: Oxford Center worker warned of safety issue before fatal hyperbaric explosion, she says

Former employee Tiffany Hosey, who was fired after she said she brought up safety concerns to Peterson and Mosteller, testified Monday that the Oxford Center, which Peterson owns, did not use grounding straps as patients were receiving treatment in hyperbaric chambers.

"Children are more likely to generate static electricity from moving … and are less likely to be compliant if you ask them not to do something," Burman said. "The risk is just too high. There's no logical reason not to ground them."

When Peterson's attorney, Gerald Gleeson, asked if there was still a risk of static electricity while wearing the strap, and Burman said there was.

"It will reduce it significantly to a point where the industry is not concerned, but it could still be there, absolutely," Burman said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office is handling the case, alleges the Oxford Center disregarded safety measures in the name of "so-called treatment."

"Due to many failures by men and women who would call themselves medical professionals and wanton or willful disregard for the likelihood that their actions would cause the death of a patient, five-year-old Thomas Cooper was killed when a fire erupted inside the pressurized, pure oxygen environment inside the chamber," she said during a virtual press conference before the four defendants were arraigned.

At their arraignments, Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel alleged that Marken, with the permission of Peterson, tampered with the hyperbaric chamber that exploded to make it appear safer than it was. The number of cycles recorded in the chamber was less than had been previously recorded, Kessel said.

"It was this one specific machine that multiple witnesses have identified that this defendant was working on, rolling back those numbers in essence — I hesitate to use this phrase here, but I don't know one that's more applicable — he was literally making this a ticking time bomb," Kessel said.

Hyperbaric chambers create an environment of pure oxygen at higher than normal air pressure, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Before the explosion, the Oxford Center advertised using hyperbaric oxygen chamber for more than 60 conditions on its website, including autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and Alzheimer's disease.

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