A 13 year old Texas teenager, Ariel Tolfree, recently reported that her Samsung S4 caught fire under her pillow as she slept. She was awakened by the smoldering cell phone.
In her discussion with a local TV station, Tolfree says her phone slipped under her pillow as she fell asleep, and the smell of something burning woke her up in 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,” said Tolfree.
”The whole phone melted,” said her dad, Thomas. “The plastic, the glass. You can’t even really tell that it was a phone.”
Her dad suspects the phone overheated, causing the battery to swell and start a fire.
A spokesperson for Samsung says 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.
Samsung has requested that the S4’s charred remains be sent to them for investigation, and said that it will replace the phone and ruined bedding.
