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A 16-year old living in Alberta suffered third degree burns when the iPhone he was charging caught on fire. The unnamed teen suffered third-degree burns on his leg. Perhaps it is no surprise that the charger in use as the fire started, was not the original one that came with the iPhone. Over the years we have told you about a number of incidents involving the Apple iPhone ranging from electrocution deaths, to explosions. In many of those cases, the phone was plugged into a third party charger when the explosion/fire/electric shock took place. Apple was so concerned about the use of these cheaply made chargers, that a few years ago it offered to give a free official Apple charger to those who turned in a third party knock off.
This past Sunday, the Schultz family woke up around midnight when their son yelled that the basement, where he lived, was on fire. Family members tried to douse the blaze using water. The teenager had the presence of mind to grab the fire extinguisher which took care of the flames that were destroying his bed.
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As it turns out, the third party charger had been purchased from a gas station. Let this be a warning to those of you using such cheap chargers. They are a hazard. No one likes to spend the extra money to buy an official charger for their handset, but in the long run it just might be worth the money. If you try to save a few bucks by buying your new charger from the Avon Lady or from a gas station, you could end up paying more to replace furniture or clothes that caught on fire. And the last thing you want to do is to pay a doctor for treating a burn suffered by a family member.
We might never know if this teenage victim's burn could have been avoided with an official Apple charger. But why stack the odds against you from the start? You wouldn't buy gas from your mobile carrier, don't buy your phone accessories from a gas station.
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