An iPhone 4 suddenly exploded and caught fire while it was being charged overnight in the kitchen. To make matters worse, the incident occurred at night when the family who owned the house was sleeping.
Brian Leisgang, who lives in Ohio, United States with his wife, Jennifer, and five children, admitted that he only realized that there had been a small fire at his house in the morning when one of his sons saw an iPhone 4 which was already damaged and charred.
The iPhone 4 is on the kitchen table near the power outlet. Leisgang immediately checked the video footage from the surveillance camera in the kitchen and saw a burning iPhone 4 but luckily the fire quickly extinguished by itself.
Leisgang said the family and home were fine, but the fire could have ended in disaster. The reason is that the kitchen table is usually filled with books and the children's homework which could have caught fire, but luckily at that time their kitchen table had just been cleaned.
"We were very lucky because we were able to avoid a house fire," Leisgang said in a post on Facebook, as quoted from Insider, Monday (23/1/2023).
SiPhone 4 catches fire while charging overnight Photo: Brian Leisgang
The iPhone 4 is a derivative phone that Leisgang gave her son to use. Despite realizing that the cell phone was quite old, Leisgang was not aware of hidden dangers lurking.
"Apple never mentioned when we bought the product that it would pose a fire hazard after years of use. And to be honest, letting our kids use those phones and charging them never crossed my mind as a potential hazard," he said.
According to Thomas Fadul, manager at iPhone repair service provider Asurion Tech Repair and Solution, an old iPhone that explodes and catches fire is not something common. Fadul said that incidents like this usually occur due to many problems that cause cell phones to overheat to the point of burning.
The iPhone 4 itself is now 13 years old, and Fadul said that older iPhones are at risk of burning due to a combination of natural wear and tear on internal components and the use of old chargers. It could also be because the charger used is damaged, so that the flow of electricity to the cellphone is disrupted and causes a surge in electric current.
Leisgang said his wife had contacted Apple about the incident, but had not received a response. Apple told Leisgang's wife that they didn't think their customers were still using Apple products after seven years, and called the iPhone a "vintage" product.
"I think Apple should be held accountable for this very real threat of harm and at least provide more awareness," said Leisgang.