Hang On: Cell Phone Battery May Not Have Caused Fire After All
The cell phone industry’s public relations machine was all hung up over the case of a man in Vallejo, California. A fire in his home left him with burns over half his body, and an initial investigation led to suspicions that his cell phone’s (a Nokia 2125i) battery may have overheated and caught his clothing on fire.
The case was murky from the start, however. There were questions as to whether the victim may have been intoxicated, and perhaps may have squished the buttons on the phone down in his pocket causing the phone to overheat.
Further investigation makes the case even murkier.
Nokia’s engineers got involved, and when they tested the phone, they found it to be in perfect working order. They - and the fire department’s investigator - now agree that the cell phone could not have led to this fire.
Attorney Vance Owen, apparently one of several attorneys representing this victim, was not satisfied. He continues to insist that the cell phone was the only likely cause of this fire, since the victim did not smoke. Owen went on to say that asking Nokia’s engineers to determine if the cell phone caused the fire “was like asking an arsonist” if he had started it.
A government report on cell phone fires between 2002 and 2004 indicates most were linked to non-original equipment replacement batteries. There were about 100 fires reported, out of 200 million handsets in service in the U.S.
Putting this case aside - best advice might be to avoid replacement batteries that don’t come from the manufacturer. And it’s still probably better to keep your phone in a holster or a purse, instead of your pocket.
cell phone fire, Vallejo, Nokia 2125i, cell phone battery
[via Vallejo Times-Herald]
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