Samsung Galaxy S4 Catches Fire, Burning 13-Year-Old's Bedding, Mattress And Pillow
The girl was not injured in the fire, though her father says that Samsung should display more visible warnings against using non-OEM parts in its phones.
By Sadho Ram — 29 Jul 2014, 04:21 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
A 13-year-old Texas teen Ariel Tolfree received a rude awakening when her Samsung Galaxy S4 caught fire overnight, as she slept next to it, according to reports
Last week, a 13-year-old North Texas girl plugged her Samsung Galaxy S4 in for its nightly juice-up before hitting the sack, only to be awoken by the smell of something burning hours later. When she got up and searched around for the source of the stench, she realized that she had wedged her charging phone under her pillow. And not only was the backside of the pillow scorched, but the phone was fried into an unrecognizable slab of plastic and melted components.
Ariel said a burning smell woke up her in the middle of the night
“I didn’t think much of it, so I went back to sleep, and then I woke up again and it was more prominent,” she told KDFW.
myfoxdfw.com"The whole phone melted," Ariel's dad, Thomas, told local television station KDFW
Ariel’s dad, Thomas, said he believed the phone overheated and has now become unrecognizable. “The whole phone melted,” said her dad, Thomas. “The plastic, the glass. You can’t even really tell that it was a phone.”
mashable.com
But Samsung says their products are safe and that it was Ariel's fault. According to a Samsung spokesperson:
"Their products are safe, and pointed out that the battery inside the phone was a replacement unit and not an original Samsung part. Nevertheless, the company does agree there is a need for consumer education when it comes to rechargeable batteries. That's exactly why they post a warning in their user guide, which specifically states covering one of their devices with bedding or other material could restrict airflow and cause a fire.:
jezebel.com
But the teen and her dad said they were unaware of that warning
“If anything, they should put a big warning on it, like a cigarette label, if that’s the case,” Thomas said.
Samsung requested to see the burned phone so they can investigate the fire, and said they will replace Ariel's phone, bedding, mattress, and pillow
