A family in Cincinnati, Ohio had a close call with a house fire when an iPhone 4 belonging to their children caught fire while charging on the kitchen counter. The incident happened on January 8th while the family was asleep and they were not aware of the fire until the next morning when they saw soot and fragments of the phone on the counter.
The father of the family, Brian Leisgang, shared a video of the fire on Facebook and said that they were fortunate to have cleaned off the counter the day before as it usually had lots of school books and papers in that area. He also added that the fire did not last long but the flames lit up the kitchen and living room.
An iPhone charging on a kitchen counter in a Cincinnati, Ohio home catches fire while the family sleeps, as seen in a video:
Fires in smartphones are usually caused by the device’s battery, which are made with lithium-ion. When something goes wrong with the battery, it can create a volatile reaction that leads to fires. A similar incident occurred in 2010 when an iPhone 4 caught fire due to a faulty USB port. In 2012, a Colorado woman also woke up to her iPhone 4 on fire.
Apple advises users to use only original cables or chargers and avoid charging in areas with moisture to prevent fires or electric shocks.
