Fire Officials: Charging cell phones on beds can spark fires

Fire Departments are warning people not to leave phones and other personal devices on beds while the devices charge. The reason? Bedding, blankets and pillows keep heat that is generated while cell phones and similar devices charge from properly dissipating, which results in the devices overheating and fires sparking.

Electrical Safety First, a UK based charity that raises awareness of safety hazards, reports that 53% of surveyed British youth admit to leaving their cell phones to charge on their beds.

Such was the case of Caitlin Rae Durrant, a Welsh teen whose bedroom went up in flames last November. Authorities said that Durrant’s iphone, which overheated while being left to charge on top of the 15-year-old’s bed, was the source of the fire.

“When a device, such as a phone or a tablet, is left surrounded by bedding or under a pillow, there is nowhere for the generated heat to dissipate and it will to become hotter and hotter. The heat caused by the device, combined with flammable materials, has the potential to cause fire and put property or even lives in danger,” says Electrical Safety First’s website.

Apple products, such as the iphone, use lithium batteries. Samsung and other companies also use lithium batteries to power their devices. Lithium is a highly reactive metal, and there have been multiple reports of lithium batteries melting or overheating.

Lithium batteries have three main components: two electrodes and an electrolyte. Lithium ions are driven out of the electrolyte during charging, and flow back into the electrolyte as the battery loses its charge. The movement of ions creates a balanced flow of electrons that allows the battery to function properly.

Problems occur when the thin dividers that separate the different components of the battery are injured. Damaged dividers can lead to a short circuit and overheating.

Battalion Chief and Fire Marshall Sam Klemek of the Salinas Fire Department urges people to treat their devices with care and charge them with appropriate chargers.

“A phone that’s been dropped numerous times, you got to be aware that that is a fire hazard,” said Klemek, who went on to explain that roughly handling a device with a lithium battery may cause damage to battery itself.

Klemek also warned against foregoing chargers specifically designed for one’s device in favor of cheap, off-brand chargers; chargers not specifically designed for one’s device can cause it to overheat and become damaged.

Additionally, Klemek suggests leaving one’s phone to charge on a plate or other hard surface that, unlike a bed, is not made of particularly flammable materials.

Despite the risks associated with charging personal devices, Fire Marshall Mike DeMars of the Central Fire Protection District of Santa Cruz County said that fire sparked by personal devices are rare, with only two such incidents occurring in the last ten years: “Within the last ten years we’ve had maybe two incidents where we can relate a fire to a charging device, a laptop charger that overheated and a battery charger for an electric motorcycle.”