Gisborne Herald
  • Gisborne Herald Home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport

Locations

  • Gisborne
  • Bay of Plenty
  • Hawke's Bay

Media

  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Gisborne Herald

Warning over phone charger use

Gisborne Herald
18 Mar, 2023 11:50 AMQuick Read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

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

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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“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.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“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.”

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Gisborne Herald

Gisborne Herald

'Privilege to be here': Rugby legends pay tribute to Ian Kirkpatrick

09 Jul 05:24 AM
Gisborne Herald

Meet the mature cat seeking his forever home in Gisborne

09 Jul 02:37 AM
Gisborne Herald

Meetings in Gisborne to restart Neighbourhood Support

09 Jul 02:29 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Gisborne Herald

'Privilege to be here': Rugby legends pay tribute to Ian Kirkpatrick

'Privilege to be here': Rugby legends pay tribute to Ian Kirkpatrick

09 Jul 05:24 AM

The All Blacks great was honoured at a fundraiser for the Papakura and Ngatapa clubs.

Meet the mature cat seeking his forever home in Gisborne

Meet the mature cat seeking his forever home in Gisborne

09 Jul 02:37 AM
Meetings in Gisborne to restart Neighbourhood Support

Meetings in Gisborne to restart Neighbourhood Support

09 Jul 02:29 AM
'Extremely grateful': 100-year-old wharf shed's rimu timber to be reused

'Extremely grateful': 100-year-old wharf shed's rimu timber to be reused

08 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Gisborne Herald
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Gisborne Herald
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP