Warning over phone charger use

OVERHEATED: The remains of a pillow after a phone charger overheated and set light to a teenager's bed. Above, the malfunctioning charger. Pictures supplied

A GISBORNE mother has sounded a warning after a phone charger malfunctioned and caused a fire in her son's bedroom.

The teenager's iPhone SE was charging on a bed in the sleepoout earlier this month.

“My son had fallen asleep and was woken by the smoke alarm to find his bed alight.”

He ran into the house to his mother, who was in the kitchen. She filled a contrainer with water and rushed to the sleepout where she found pillows and bedding in flames.

“We managed to get the pillows outside on to the driveway and poured water on to the bed to put the rest of the fire out,” the mother said.

“We only worked out the cause of the fire after it was put out and saw the charging cable.”

An electrician later checked the wiring and confirmed the fire was started by the charger.

“The phone charger was not the one that came with the phone but purchased as an after-market one.”

The fire started at the USB port on the charging plug, she said.

“The charger was plugged into an extension cord, which was a blessing in the end, as otherwise the flames would have gone up the walls and the curtain just above would have caught fire.

“It was contained to the bed fortunately and the only damage was three pillows, a sheet and a mattress topper.

“I have one very lucky teenager.”

Specialist fire investigator for Tairawhiti Derek Goodwin said basically anything you can plug into the wall can be a problem and can cause fire.

“We are seeing incidents like with mobile phones but also with vaping devices, laptops, tablets, e-bikes and scooters.

“There have been incidents like this across the country and in some cases houses have been razed to the ground.”

Mr Goodwin said people should be mindful of the recall site — recalls.govt.nz

“There are a couple of chargers on that site that have been recalled. It may pay that if you have a phone to have a look on that site.

“Also, phones should not be charged under a pillow or the bed clothes, because the phone battery can overheat and catch fire.

“It's also happened in people's pockets.

“If you notice any bulging in your phone or device, certainly don't use it again until you seek advice on it,” Mr Goodwin said.

“It was good to see in this case that the family were alerted by working smoke alarms.”