iPhone Catches Fire and Burns Eighth-Grader

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Well we haven’t read one of these stories in a while, at least not one from the US, so we were about due. iPhone is back in the news for bursting into flames and barbequing the backside of an eighth-grade girl in the process. The phone was in the student’s back pocket during class when it ignited.

The division chief of the local emergency medical services, Andrew Palmeri, told Seacoast Online that the phone's battery had "shorted out."
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That's what you get for giving an iPhone to an ate grader.
 
No Van Halen hot for teacher jokes yet?
You guys are slacking!
How long till an Apple fanboy chimes in and starts saying it was the kid's fault for sitting on it wrong, bending the phone and battery and causing the fire?
Let the grudge match begin!
 
Perfect for the parents to cash in on a law suit. Apple has billions.
 
Galvin said:
Perfect for the parents to cash in on a law suit. Apple has billions.
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The EULA of iTunes expressly waves the right to sue for 8th graders who had their pants catch on fire from an iPhone.
 
How does one physically fit a phone in a pants pocket anyway without having to put it in there very forcibly, especially an 8th grader which would have much smaller pockets. That has to be super unfomfortable too. I find even debit carts in my jeans tend to get bent up. Bet the phone was damaged from having been forced in and probably why it caught fire. Being in the back pocket it was probably even sat on too. I don't really like Apple, but I don't really think they should get the blame for this one.
 
Red Squirrel said:
How does one physically fit a phone in a pants pocket anyway without having to put it in there very forcibly, especially an 8th grader which would have much smaller pockets. That has to be super unfomfortable too. I find even debit carts in my jeans tend to get bent up. Bet the phone was damaged from having been forced in and probably why it caught fire. Being in the back pocket it was probably even sat on too. I don't really like Apple, but I don't really think they should get the blame for this one.
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Ah, she was pocketing it wrong?
 
Red Squirrel said:
How does one physically fit a phone in a pants pocket anyway without having to put it in there very forcibly, especially an 8th grader which would have much smaller pockets. That has to be super unfomfortable too. I find even debit carts in my jeans tend to get bent up. Bet the phone was damaged from having been forced in and probably why it caught fire. Being in the back pocket it was probably even sat on too. I don't really like Apple, but I don't really think they should get the blame for this one.
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Stop wearing skin-tight pants :p

Honestly, I've never seen how someone can willingly wear a phone in their back pocket anyways. I'd always be afraid of breaking it when sitting down. I do keep my S3 in a front pocket and it even fits in a pair of straight leg Levi's, just a little tight, and that's quite a bit bigger than iPhone...
 
Red Squirrel said:
How does one physically fit a phone in a pants pocket anyway without having to put it in there very forcibly, especially an 8th grader which would have much smaller pockets. That has to be super unfomfortable too. I find even debit carts in my jeans tend to get bent up. Bet the phone was damaged from having been forced in and probably why it caught fire. Being in the back pocket it was probably even sat on too. I don't really like Apple, but I don't really think they should get the blame for this one.
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You've surely heard of cargo pants right? Huge pockets, you could fit a hammer and a multimeter back there!
 
EMS Division Chief Andrew Palmeri said it appears that when the student sat down, with the phone in her back pocket, the phone's battery “shorted out.” The state fire marshal is investigating, he said.

“People should obviously use caution when placing their phones in their back pockets so as not to crush them and cause an electrical short,” he said.
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That was in the original article the article we were linked to was based off of.
So, I guess"You're pocketing it wrong" is now the next valid excuse along with "You're holding it wrong" and "You're charging it wrong."
 
Can't blame this one on fake Chinese chargers but I'm sure Apple will lie about it.
 
Red Squirrel said:
How does one physically fit a phone in a pants pocket anyway without having to put it in there very forcibly, especially an 8th grader which would have much smaller pockets.
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I don't know about you but most of us were at our full height by 8th grade... so what are you talking about? Or is this a "kid's with their tight jeans" post. :p
 
Red Squirrel said:
How does one physically fit a phone in a pants pocket anyway without having to put it in there very forcibly, especially an 8th grader which would have much smaller pockets. That has to be super unfomfortable too. I find even debit carts in my jeans tend to get bent up. Bet the phone was damaged from having been forced in and probably why it caught fire. Being in the back pocket it was probably even sat on too. I don't really like Apple, but I don't really think they should get the blame for this one.
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How doesn't one is the better question...Stop putting it in your back pocket of skin tight jeans and that problem is quickly solved. I have my Galaxy S4 in an otter box in my right pocket all the time without issue.

Never understood why people put shit in their back pockets anyhow. All that is doing is just begging for you to sit on it and break it or make it easy for a pickpocket.
 
melteye said:
I don't know about you but most of us were at our full height by 8th grade... so what are you talking about? Or is this a "kid's with their tight jeans" post. :p
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Ok. Apparently being full height in 8th grade isn't the norm. One of those cases where personal experience is invalid.
 
melteye said:
Ok. Apparently being full height in 8th grade isn't the norm. One of those cases where personal experience is invalid.
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8th grade girls are normally near their full height. Boys continue to grow for a few more years.
 
mi7chy said:
Better burnt than electrocuted.
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Because it's possible to electrocute someone with a 3.7v 1800mAh battery?

Turn your [H]ard Card in now. You should know better.
 
May suggest you look into emotional development class too.

Electrocution usually implies wall so no need to state the obvious.

Anyhow, I think you're ready for time out in the corner.
 
Red Squirrel said:
How does one physically fit a phone in a pants pocket anyway without having to put it in there very forcibly, especially an 8th grader which would have much smaller pockets. That has to be super unfomfortable too. I find even debit carts in my jeans tend to get bent up. Bet the phone was damaged from having been forced in and probably why it caught fire. Being in the back pocket it was probably even sat on too. I don't really like Apple, but I don't really think they should get the blame for this one.
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The kids not a hipster wearing skinny jeans I guess
 
mi7chy said:
May suggest you look into emotional development class too.
Electrocution usually implies wall so no need to state the obvious.
Anyhow, I think you're ready for time out in the corner.
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Hard for you to save face when you haven't bothered wiping the egg off of it.

Until then, do actually read your own links before you use them as cited sources. You might prevent the mistake of revealing your lack of thought put into your claims.
 
8th grader is usually a freshman in high school and about 14 years old.
 
article said the phone was crushed and the battery shorted out. I would be more interested in the diagnosis of a technician or engineer, not the medical chief that probably has no idea how these things work.

Sorry to hear about her injury, no burn is ever fun by any means. Do I think apple is responsible? No. Just as i don't feel a company is responsible for most injuries, sometimes shit happens and it sucks. :/

Li-poly batteries can be dangerous, any battery for that matter. It (thankfully) is a rare occurrence, but not unheard of.
 
If Steve Jobs were still alive he'd say that the kid was holding it wrong.
 
Putting your phone in your back pocket is as intelligent as putting your glasses there. Never put delicate items there as they are surely to be crushed. In fact, putting anything in your back pockets of size is a bad idea for your body in general. The girl didn't deserve the burns she got, but, they were a distinct, albeit rare, possibility given her choice of where to store it. And it's not just bad for the pressure that could potentially bend the phone and rupture the battery like this, the body heat is combined with the pressure and that too is bad for the phone.
 
Article doesn't mention what model it is but if I were to guess it's the newer more fragile bend-prone iPhone 5 or 5s. Back pocketability was a non-issue with the sturdier iPhone 4s so you really can't blame the girl for not changing old habits to compensate for a newer but more fragile upgrade.
 
mi7chy said:
Article doesn't mention what model it is but if I were to guess it's the newer more fragile bend-prone iPhone 5 or 5s. Back pocketability was a non-issue with the sturdier iPhone 4s so you really can't blame the girl for not changing old habits to compensate for a newer but more fragile upgrade.
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Very likely some truth to this. When the 5 first came out, a lot of people reported bent phones on forums like Mac Rumors. The area around the volume buttons is really weak.

I've never held my iPhone and thought "this seems fine for sitting on" though, so I haven't bent mine yet.
 
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