Smoke in steering column. Failed emission.

[svxpensive]

Can anyone tell me what could be the cause of my problem here.

My battery died from non use so I jumped it at the garage that I keep it at. I drove to Firestone to get a wheel fixed and discovered it needed a second jump because eventhough the alternator is good the battery was just flat dead after non use for 60 days.

While performing the jump at Firestone my steering column started to smoke. We stopped the jump immediatly, put in a new battery, and afterwards everything seems to be okay. The radio, AC, works, lights, dash works.

However when I drove the same day to have a vehicle emssions test performed it failed. The operator says the failure is due to him not being able to access my diagnostics system. He says this is likely due to the jump and the battery being replaced.

The emissions opertor also said this problem normally corrects itself in 2 weeks.

Can anyone tell me what may have been causing the smoke in my steering column and what may be damaged and how can I verify damage ?
Also, is there an easy way to reset the diagnostics chip ?

Thanks a million for any advice or instructions.