GREENVILLE, Illinois — You might be reading this story on your phone right now. If so, here’s a friendly reminder that—while it’s not typical—these electronic devices can be dangerous.
Last month in Greenville, Illinois, emergency crews responded to a hotel room at the Comfort Inn off I-70. A small fire triggered the smoke detectors in a room on the second floor.
The man staying in the room said it all started after he took his phone off the charger. The phone had been sitting on a table. He took it off the charger, but noticed the little green charging light was still on. He took the case off to investigate further.
That’s when the phone “went off like a firework.”
The man said the phone burst into flames, but it was a small fire and he was able to put it out on his own.
Obvioulsy, there was some type of catastrophic issue with the phone or the battery that caused the fire,” the Greenville Fire Protection District wrote on Facebook.
Photos shared online show the back of the phone missing, with burn marks around the battery area. The incident also left a couple burn marks on the table.
Fire officials said the phone was a Samsung Galaxy S6.
