Watch: iPhone catches on fire while charging in Ohio family’s kitchen - FOX 29 Philadelphia

CINCINNATI - An Ohio household is relieved that thing successful their location was earnestly damaged oregon worse, burnt to a crisp, erstwhile their information cameras captured 1 of their iPhones bursting into flames portion everyone was accelerated asleep. 

Jennifer Leisgang and her household anticipation that their communicative volition support different families from suffering a worse destiny than they did. 

On Jan. 9, astatine astir 1 a.m., Leisgang said she and her household were dormant erstwhile an iPhone 4 that was near charging connected their room antagonistic abruptly burst into flames. 

Leisgang told FOX TV Stations that the telephone was charging with an archetypal Apple charger. 

Home information camera footage shows a tiny occurrence igniting and past violently burning connected the countertop for a fewer minutes earlier dilatory opening to fizzle down. 

The adjacent morning, Leisgang and her husband, Brian, were met with a highly antithetic country — soot each implicit the countertop and a breached and blackened phone. 

"It had a silicone lawsuit connected it that cracked disconnected and the telephone divided open. And determination was achromatic soot each implicit the countertop and connected the chairs and connected the floor," Leisgang said. 

Thankfully, Leisgang’s hubby had cleared the land which is usually covered successful their children’s schoolwork and different miscellaneous objects earlier heading to furniture the nighttime before. 

"I realized however fortunate we were that we didn’t person thing connected the countertop and that it conscionable went retired connected its own," Leisgang added. 

Leisgang’s hubby shared the video and photos of the aftermath connected Facebook arsenic a informing to different Apple users to beryllium vigilant and guarantee their electronics are charging distant from thing that could perchance drawback connected fire. 

"We were highly fortunate to debar a location fire," Brian wrote connected Facebook. 

Leisgang said that she, arsenic good arsenic different parents she knows, usage older products similar the iPhone 4 to simply springiness their younger children thing with which to ticker videos. 

But aft seeing what happened to her "vintage" device, she wanted to know, however aged was excessively old? 

Leisgang said she did record a assertion with Apple hoping to get immoderate benignant of proposal erstwhile it comes to older Apple products, but the institution was incapable to springiness a straightforward answer. 

"Their verbal response, and I americium paraphrasing due to the fact that I did not constitute it each down, was that my instrumentality was vintage and they don’t expect their clients to beryllium utilizing a telephone that old," Leisgang said. "They did not truly person an answer." 

Leisgang said the institution did inquire for her to nonstop successful the telephone successful bid for much probe to beryllium conducted. 

"They were going to message maine a cheque for a replacement instrumentality but I declined their offer. I didn’t privation thing retired of this, I was conscionable reporting it aft I heard truthful galore different stories," Leisgang explained. 

Leisgang said the past she heard astir her assertion was that it was taken implicit by Apple’s firm enforcement relations and she hasn’t heard backmost astir the assertion since. 

"How aged is excessively aged to inactive beryllium using?" Leisgang posited. "An Apple telephone is benignant of similar a mini machine if you person it connected to wi-fi. It’s a camera. You tin ticker videos connected it. You tin instrumentality videos. You tin ticker YouTube. There’s a batch of households inactive utilizing 4s and 6s retired determination and the archetypal Apple iPads." 

Apple told FOX TV Stations that they were alert of the incidental involving Leisgang’s instrumentality and were "looking into the substance further." 

Previous Apple merchandise controversy

This isn’t the archetypal clip an Apple merchandise abruptly combusted. 

In 2009, Apple really launched an probe aft aggregate reports of people’s iPhones exploding passim Europe. 

In 2012, a Colorado woman’s iPhone 4 began to sizzle and fume portion connected the bedside array adjacent to her, according to a Mashable report. 

Similarly, successful 2016, a antheral successful Atlanta, Georgia, was charging his iPhone 6 erstwhile it abruptly burst into flames and successful 2017, an Australian man’s car was acceptable connected occurrence by an iPhone 7 which was near wrong the car portion the antheral went surfing. 

Also noteworthy is the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debacle of 2016 erstwhile the institution really had to halt income due to the fact that the devices would detonate portion charging. 

Apple’s batteries were besides the taxable of user uproar successful 2017 aft the institution admitted it had slowed down batteries connected older iPhones for method reasons. 

"We apologize," the institution said connected its website . "We person ne'er — and would ne'er — bash thing to intentionally shorten the beingness of immoderate Apple product, oregon degrade the idiosyncratic acquisition to thrust lawsuit upgrades."

The slowdown started with iOS 10.2.1 successful 2016, Apple said, to amended powerfulness absorption "to debar unexpected shutdowns connected iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE." 

Apple’s admittance led to the institution offering discounted artillery replacements astatine $29, but galore radical claimed they had already spent hundreds of dollars to bargain caller phones due to the fact that Apple didn’t uncover the origin of the problem. If they had known they could conscionable bargain caller batteries, they mightiness not person bought caller phones, immoderate consumers said. 

A class-action suit filed successful California regarding the slowed batteries ordered the institution to pay $500 million, including astir $93 cardinal to lawyers representing consumers. 

Apple did not admit wrongdoing successful the lawsuit. 

IPhone users who were named successful the lawsuit would get up to $3,500 each. The remainder of the colony wealth would beryllium distributed to owners of iPhone 6, 6S, 7 and SE models who met eligibility requirements related to the operating strategy they had moving astatine the time. 

What causes immoderate phones to ‘explode?’

The crushed down the malfunctioning phones is mostly owed to the battery. Many — if not each — smartphones person lithium-ion batteries. 

Lithium batteries are fashionable due to the fact that they battalion importantly much vigor into a tiny package. 

But their chemistry makes them much apt to drawback occurrence nether definite conditions because, dissimilar different rechargeable batteries, they incorporate a flammable electrolyte and are kept pressurized. 

If the batteries person a manufacturing flaw, are damaged, are packed excessively intimately together, are overcharged oregon are exposed to excessive temperatures they tin overheat, causing a information known arsenic "thermal runaway." 

That’s a concern successful which an summation successful somesthesia causes continuous further increases — a benignant of uncontrolled affirmative feedback. If a azygous artillery overheats, it tin origin different adjacent batteries to overheat and acquisition thermal runaway arsenic well. The flammable electrolyte tin besides ignite.

How to forestall your telephone from exploding

Again, portion it is precise rare, determination are respective ways to debar immoderate imaginable spontaneous combustion erstwhile it comes to your iPhone oregon immoderate smartphone. 

Get a telephone case

Dropping your telephone and perchance damaging your artillery is 1 mode that tin pb to a fiery outcome, according to PC Mag. 

Again, not each telephone volition instantly detonate aft it is dropped without a lawsuit but it’s amended to play it harmless than sorry. 

Avoid utmost temperatures

Overheating a smartphone’s artillery has been linked to cases of malfunctioning devices. 

But adjacent highly acold temperatures tin negatively interaction a telephone battery’s support life, PC Mag said. 

It’s champion to support your telephone successful mean temperatures if you tin assistance it. 

Don’t screen your telephone portion it charges

So basically, bash not support your charging smartphone nether your pillow portion sleeping. This tin pb to overheating, which arsenic it was mentioned above, tin pb to disastrous effects.

Practice bully ‘battery hygiene’

While it’s bully to person your telephone charged astatine 100% each clip you determine to spell retired oregon are preparing for immoderate large scrolling done societal media earlier bed, it’s really champion to support it anyplace betwixt 30% and 80% charged. 

Apple’s website really advises consumers to lone support a 50% complaint connected a device’s battery. 

The Associated Press and FOX News contributed to this report. This communicative was reported from Los Angeles.