One Smartphone Could Burn Your House Down

I ran across this article and thought who sleeps with their phone?? That is until I realized that my daughter does this on occasion during the summer when school is out and she doesn't have to "turn it in at bedtime".

That is the only reason I post it here. I know many of us have kids. I know A LOT of us have teenagers and we don't think about things like this too often simply because it isn't widespread and it doesn't happen all the time. But all it takes is once and maybe I am not the only one who just never really thought about it.

In today's case one 13-year-old girl, Ariel Tolfree, in Texas fell asleep with her phone in her bed. She woke up to the smell of smoke and fire, as her Galaxy S4 phone melted away while underneath her pillow.

“I didn't think much of it, so I went back to sleep, and then I woke up again and it was more prominent,” said Tolfree.

The girl's father, Thomas Tolfree, believes that the phone overheated, the battery started to swell and caused the phone to melt down into the mess in the photo below.

This pic is really nothing compared to what it could have been....



In the interest of fairness to Samsung they do state below that a third party battery was used in the phone. I have heard of a few other instances where this was the case when a third party charger or battery was used, so I am not sure what the risk factor would be if none of these things were being used.

I just know that it was enough for me to think twice about it.

Samsung responded to the incident positively, replacing the girl's mattress, bedding and of course, phone. Samsung also pointed out that they post a warning in the Galaxy phone's user guide that "specifically states covering one of their devices with bedding or other material could restrict airflow and cause a fire."

Samsung was also quick to point out that the phone's battery wasn't from Samsung. It was a replacement unit from a third party.

Third-party chargers and other gadgets are usually the culprits in cases like these.

Again, I just wanted to share.

Full article here:

www.komando.com... n-body-a

I can agree about the battery. They're the same tech as I use in my RC helicopters and I've purchased several third party replacement batteries, all of them had a very short life and one of them started to swell!

Samsung were also correct with their warning about not covering the phones. All electronics create heat, if the heat cant escape then it builds up, that leads to component failure which could escalate the heating even more.

I keep all my copter batteries in a metal box just in case they catch fire. Probably a good idea to leave phones in something that cant catch fire during the night, an old ashtray would be a good idea.

Yes this happend to a friend of mine's eye phone, she left it on charge on her bedside table and woke up to it in flames!

a reply to: VoidHawk

That's probably a good idea Voidhawk. I keep my phone on a charger by the bed on a metal plate. Not because of this, but because it was handy. My iPad... Not so much. It stays on charge overnight on the arm of my chair in the living room. I just never thought about it. I'll be moving my iPad charger to the kitchen where it can sit on a stand from now on.

I know it's common sense, but it slips the mind after using such devices for years with no issues.

originally posted by: BoovDawg
Yes this happend to a friend of mine's eye phone, she left it on charge on her bedside table and woke up to it in flames!

Flames?? Geez! I guess you don't ever know. That's nuts!

Wow, that's scary! Sometimes I charge my phone on my wooden nightstand, never gave it a thought. I charge my Ipad on its stand, so that should be okay.

I just don't understand why anyone would put their phone under their pillow. A gun, yeah, but a phone? LOL!

I have lipo bags that are for charging batteries for the hobbies that I do. They are cheap and would contain a fire from phones at night. It would be a great investment if you're worried about something like this.

originally posted by: ChiefD
Wow, that's scary! Sometimes I charge my phone on my wooden nightstand, never gave it a thought. I charge my Ipad on its stand, so that should be okay.

I just don't understand why anyone would put their phone under their pillow. A gun, yeah, but a phone? LOL!

I don't understand it either, but she was 13. So I guess that explains it. My daughter will sometimes use her phone for music and fall asleep with it beside her. I guess it's possible that it could find it's way under the pillow at some point during the night. I've seen enough here for me to make her keep it on the nightstand at the very least from now on. It never crossed my mind that it could be flammable... It should have, but didn't.

originally posted by: Schwallyjdog
I have lipo bags that are for charging batteries for the hobbies that I do. They are cheap and would contain a fire from phones at night. It would be a great investment if you're worried about something like this.

Thanks for that Schwally. I have never heard of those before now. I'm going to have to check them out.

So, isn't your phone covered when it is in your pocket? Phones should not be made that can't be covered. How about when it is in your winter jacket or purse. Make sure not to have a candy bar in your purse with the phone.

Hmm, phone batteries develop heat when the phone is in use.
Many people who've suspected they're being spied on by the alphabets have their suspicions because their phones get hot while they're not using them.
Therefore, secretly switching a persons phone on remotely could be extremely dangerous!

Reason enough to stop the spying?

originally posted by: rickymouse
So, isn't your phone covered when it is in your pocket? Phones should not be made that can't be covered. How about when it is in your winter jacket or purse. Make sure not to have a candy bar in your purse with the phone.

If its in your pocket its generally not in use. I think all phones can be safely covered - until they develop a fault! Or as I mentioned in post above, they are remotely switched on.

You should use a surge protector on phone chargers.

That is pretty bad. Ive never seen phones get that hot. Usually its just laptops and tablets that seem to heat up.

I remember a few years ago there was a virus that was able to infect laptop batteries to make them explode. This was only on a certain model but it was crazy.

originally posted by: Aural
You should use a surge protector on phone chargers.

That is pretty bad. Ive never seen phones get that hot. Usually its just laptops and tablets that seem to heat up.

I remember a few years ago there was a virus that was able to infect laptop batteries to make them explode. This was only on a certain model but it was crazy.

You cant infect a battery with a virus
A virus can switch on various parts of a system and cause a massive drain on a battery that causes the battery to over heat though.

ETA: Surge protectors only stop voltage spikes, they wont stop a device from malfunctioning so one should not falsely believe they are safe by using one.

a reply to: VoidHawk
The battery has its own chip to control some part of it voltage regulation or something. I forgot the details but it was something associated with the battery not the hard drive like most viruses would go to.

Interesting warning thx.

Its only been the past week or so that I have read reports of laptops left on beds, that have burned houses down.
I think one girl died this way.
Yes, unfortunately it is young teenage girls who seem to do this, sometimes with tragic results..
So Dont even leave your laptop on your bed, for any length of time.

My first thought on reading the title of the thread was. I can also burn down my house with one match. Then I read the thread and my second thought was that is why you never use third party anything unless you are prepared for the risk and for things like this. I am sure Samsung spent millions upon millions to develop everything and make sure all the parts work together. The third party provider probably not so much. Third party items are not always cheaper because they are of less quality but often that is the case.

originally posted by: karmicecstasy
My first thought on reading the title of the thread was. I can also burn down my house with one match. Then I read the thread and my second thought was that is why you never use third party anything unless you are prepared for the risk and for things like this. I am sure Samsung spent millions upon millions to develop everything and make sure all the parts work together. The third party provider probably not so much. Third party items are not always cheaper because they are of less quality but often that is the case.

That has pretty much always been my experience as well. You might save a few bucks, but if you have to keep replacing it every other week, or it is dangerous.... it really isn't worth the risk.

And you are right. You could burn down your house with one match. You could burn down your house with one of any other millions of things out there. I just wanted to post as a reminder that it might be good to be a little more careful with our devices. Not just where we put them, but maybe with what we put in them/charge them with as well.

originally posted by: Kangaruex4Ewe

originally posted by: karmicecstasy
My first thought on reading the title of the thread was. I can also burn down my house with one match. Then I read the thread and my second thought was that is why you never use third party anything unless you are prepared for the risk and for things like this. I am sure Samsung spent millions upon millions to develop everything and make sure all the parts work together. The third party provider probably not so much. Third party items are not always cheaper because they are of less quality but often that is the case.

.
And you are right. You could burn down your house with one match. You could burn down your house with one of any other millions of things out there. I just wanted to post as a reminder that it might be good to be a little more careful with our devices. Not just where we put them, but maybe with what we put in them/charge them with as well.

That was just my dumb first reaction to just the thread title. I am glad you posted this. This was not really on my radar at all. I do not have teenagers yet. My little guy is no where near the age for a phone but I am going to be way more careful and add this to the list of safety lessons I teach him. Of course by the time he is old enough to have a phone it will probably be implanted behind his eyeball or something and ill have to worry about his brain melting not my house.

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

There have been instances of iphones catching fire .. I remember one story of an iphone that caught fire in someone's pants pocket.

Modern smart phones generate heat and shouldn't be covered up for very long, especially under someone's pillow in their bed with zero airflow for 7-8 hours straight.

Yes generally they stay cool if there's nothing backgrounded, but if you have an app running and there's a flurry of activity it can start getting hot.. if you have someone blowing up your phone with texts at one AM turning on your display and waking it from sleep, it's going to get hot..

I agree the battery is likely to have the most blame here, but exercise some common sense and don't put your smartphone somewhere that it doesn't get airflow ..

My brother-in-law is a fire captain a couple of towns over and he just let me know that a few weeks ago they had a fire that started with a charging iPad. Apparently the person left it sitting on a piece of furniture and it ignited the upholstery.