A Samsung phone caught fire while in the cupholder of a car, according to a woman from Detroit. The woman claims that one of her two Samsung phones resulted in her car being destroyed and almost took her life.
The Detroit woman, who wants to keep her identity undisclosed, stated that while she was driving down Evergreen, a spark in the cupholder caught her attention and later she noticed that her Samsung phone had caught fire.
Which Samsung phone caught fire and destroyed car?
Speaking to Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ, the women said that she had two phones sitting in a cupholder, and one of them caught fire. “Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S8. I thought I was going to die when I saw the sparks and the fire,” she says.
Once the Samsung phone caught fire, she had no choice but to pull over and got out of her Nissan Maxima. She said that the phone caught fire in a matter of a few seconds, and people who saw it asked her to get away the car immediately.
Attorney Gerald Thurswell, who is representing the women, said his client suffered emotional scars and still has trouble sleeping after the incident. The incident happened on the morning of May 21. Thurswell stated that they have reached out to Samsung, which responded swiftly by sending a crew to examine the car and portions of the phone. Once it is known which Samsung phone caught fire, it would help in saving the lives of others as well.
What caused the fire in the phone is yet to be established with some saying that sunlight and the heat of the car may have caused the phone to explode. Also, many say that the impact would have been much less if there was no second phone present in the proximity.
About the incident that left the woman with a destroyed car, Samsung in a statement to WXYZ said: “We stand behind the quality and safety of the millions of Samsung phones in the U.S,” adding that they would go ahead with a full investigation of the matter until all the evidence is examined, and until then it is hard to comment on the real cause of the incident.
Samsung is expected to take some time in investigating and reaching a conclusion about the smartphone that caught fire. However, the Detroit Fire department has blamed both of the Galaxy smartphones for the fire.
Nothing new for Samsung phones
This is not a standalone case where Samsung phones turned out to be a death scare. Some Samsung models are even banned on airplanes. However, none of the phones that destroyed the car of the Detroit woman were on the banned list. Samsung did have a couple of rough years with its smartphones bursting into flames, but the Galaxy S4 or S8 are not on the recall list.
Back in 2016, Samsung found itself at the receiving end when the complaints of its phones overheating surfaced. The Galaxy Note 7 was reported to burst into flames due to overheating resulting in the official recall of the phone. Eventually, the production was halted in October 2016. The Federal Aviation Administration banned the Note 7 from flights as well.
Just last month, photos of a burnt Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge emerged on Twitter with the owner claiming that the phone caught fire while charging. This incident was reported just weeks after a Samsung washing machine exploded in the U.S. The machine was on a recall list issued by Samsung some months ago.
The Galaxy S7 Edge owner, Vatsal Gupta, posted images of the phone claiming that it caught fire while charging. In his tweets, Gupta seemed to be annoyed at Samsung for not validating his complaints. “How much more proof do you need han?@Pocketnow @AndroidAuth @techguruawaaz Seems like note7’s rebirth.I am annoyed,” Gupta tweeted.
Most of his tweets were about how he is trying to explain his case to Samsung and get the phone repaired. Gupta stated that he has been trying to connect with the Samsung guys for over a week, but still, no action has been taken.
Recently, Lithium-ion battery manufacturers urged the people to avoid throwing the batteries or the devices in the trash because some of the devices end up exploding. Data suggests that last year 65% of the waste facilities fires in California started with lithium-ion batteries.
Carl Smith, CEO and president of Call2Recycle, a national recycling program funded by battery manufacturers, said: “If there are multiple batteries there, you will have not just a fire, you will have explosions.”
Throwing the batteries and the devices away have become such a big issue in California that the state has launched an awareness campaign to educate consumers about keeping such items out of the garbage trucks and landfills, according to USA Today.
