iBook battery catches fire
We hear about the occasional battery recall, and there are always the complaints that computers are getting too hot, but things went to a whole new level for a family in Minnesota. As WCCO in the Twin Cities reports, an 11 year-old boy set a running iBook down on the carpet and left the room. His mother states that they heard a popping noise, saw that the iBook had started melting the carpet and the room was filling with smoke. They quickly carried the iBook outside and remembered to bring their camera along for the show as the iBook, you can see, literally caught fire (WCCO has a video and more images).Of course, the news outlet is making sure to pull out all the sensationalizing tricks with such quotes from the mother like "It doesn't seem real that you would have a fire in a computer. We all could have died, and the house could have burned down".
The moral of the story? Apple burns houses down. Buy a typewriter from your local office supply store.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sahil said 11:46AM on 6-01-2006
i love this... anyone with half a brain knows not to leave a laptop on a carpet. basic physics. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=119196
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Rob Labatt said 11:47AM on 6-01-2006
I read the story and viewed the video elsewhere as well. Is it odd/suspect that a/ the laptop seems plugged in when it is outside and b/ before trying to put out the fire and possibly save data on the hard drive they ran for a camera. Is there a 3-day-old fish in this story?
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Ken69267 said 12:00PM on 6-01-2006
Because, when your iBooks on fire, you leave it plugged in and film it dying.
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John Hopper said 12:01PM on 6-01-2006
Uh, my first instinct wouldn't be to get my camera.. it would be to PUT OUT THE FIRE! Something seems sketchy...
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icruise said 12:09PM on 6-01-2006
Why is the AC adapter still plugged in after they brought it outside?
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narco said 12:09PM on 6-01-2006
Sounds like someone was preparing for a lawsuit.
"We could have all died..."
Who's idea was it to say that gem, the people or the reporter? And what kind of parents leave a young child unattended in front of a laptop?
Fishes,
narco.
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Chris Watson said 12:14PM on 6-01-2006
"The agency recommends paying close attention to computer company manuals."
Exactly, don't the iBook/Powerbook manuals warn against use on soft surfaces? Allow plenty of air circulation to the bottom of the computer? No wonder it caught on fire. Anyone else notice a trend (for the most part) with the cases they cite? Seems like they are either involving children (who just don't know any better) or adults in situations where it sounds like the laptop was left on a bed or other "non hard" surface.
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kevin said 12:19PM on 6-01-2006
leaving a child "unattended in front of a laptop" or leaving a laptop on a bed doesn't equal your laptop bursting into flames, does it?
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rick said 12:26PM on 6-01-2006
The news channel does offer some good advice:
"...if the computer starts shutting down, shut if off."
How's that for insightful news? ;)
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Joel said 12:26PM on 6-01-2006
Maybe the family wants an excuse to get a Macbook?
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Chris Watson said 12:28PM on 6-01-2006
Not necessarially but I'm almost positive most laptop manuals warn against specific use like that for this exact reason. Anyone with any sort of sense can probably get away with it pretty often but I doubt those same people are going to leave their laptop on a surface like that for an extended amount of time. Kids don't have that sense, its the same reason their stuff gets broken, hence why this happened.
Although I will say this looks a lot more like fraud than an "accidental laptop fire". Why is it my Powerbook cable is never long enough to reach from the wall to the couch yet theirs was long enough to reach from their living room to the outside of their house?
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Greg said 12:31PM on 6-01-2006
I'm with icruise. The AC power adapter would not likely have been plugged in if they'd moved it from the house to the patio.
My guess is that they left this thing in the sun.
I don't mean to side with Apple, but this looks very suspect. However, the bottom line is that, somehow, the battery caught fire, which is terrible.
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kevin said 12:38PM on 6-01-2006
oh, the humanity!
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Max said 12:45PM on 6-01-2006
OH right so this thing bursts into flames and rather then gettin some water the silly mare rushes to get her video camera and film it.
And it's so dangerous and hot that they decided that it would be best if they picked it up and moved it outside whilst it was on fire?
Gimme a break, these guys have obviously attempted to generate this story, none of it makes any sense. If your laptop was on fire I know what I'd do and it wouldn't be picking it up to move it outside whilst I watch it slowly melt.
Oh and rick, great spot. I cracked up when I heard them say that, 'if it shuts its self down, turn it off'. You can't write it.
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Marco F. said 12:53PM on 6-01-2006
nothing special here.
Last year my wifes' PC laptop nearly caught fire because of a malfunctioning powersupply.. it shouldn't happen, but of course, this will be used to stomp down on the apple QC...
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Tek said 1:12PM on 6-01-2006
@#5, the child was supposedly 11 years old, right? How incompetent do we really think children are? Haha! If anything went wrong while the child was using it, it's most likely ill advising on the parents' part about using it on soft surfaces.
I, too, think it is awkward someone filmed this. But I don't know much how legal anything they hope to get out of this. The cords and manuals on nearly anything electronic nowadays tell you not to do this, that or the other. It's an unfortunate event, but two claps for the person who picks up a sizzling object (maybe she used oven mittens?). By the way, is it all right just to throw water on this? That'd be my first instinct.
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Mike said 1:21PM on 6-01-2006
1) Looks to me like they yanked the power cord out of the wall and just chucked the entire thing on the patio. If you look in the video, the iBook itself isn't still plugged in.
2) It is utterly inexcusable for a laptop to catch on fire for being left on the carpet. ESPECIALLY an iBook, which has no bottom vents. This looks to me, rather, like a defect in the battery itself (see #3.) Laptops should shut down LONG before they catch on fire. And since I doubt his CPU usage was even CLOSE to 50%, let alone 100%, I highly doubt leaving it on the carpet had anything to do with it.
3) http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/05/20/apple_recalls_batteries/
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Fred said 1:38PM on 6-01-2006
I gotta tell ya, if I had thrown the thing out on the patio, and ensured that the house wasn't on fire, I'd film it. That way when I need my faulty laptop replaced, I have proof. Also, if you read the story, there was no actual fire in the house, only smoke. And I have to think that once a machine is smoking it's pretty much a total loss, might as well document it. I don't understand why everyone is coming down on these people. Their kid was using the laptop, and left it on the floor. Big deal, there should be a reasonable expectation that the damn thing won't catch fire when left on a floor. There was an obvious defect somewhere.
I'd be curious to know how old the iBook was, and whether or not that battery was a replacement. Remember all those exploding cell phones? Most of those were from counterfeit / shoddy batteries if I remember right.
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jbelkin said 1:38PM on 6-01-2006
It seems odd - when your kids or your house is catching on fire - do you grab the camera AND the video camera first?
And then carrying a burning item outside - just happen to have flame retardent gloves handy?
Did they go out for some Wendy's chilli later?
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Mark said 1:38PM on 6-01-2006
...and why leave the lid open, my first insinct would have been to close the lid.
A scam.
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