iPod catches fire in user's pocket

An American airport worker described himself as "freaked out" when his iPod Nano caught fire in his pocket.

Danny Williams, of Douglasville in Georgia, was carrying his iPod in his trousers when he noticed a burning sensation and looked down to see flames shooting out of his pocket.

The Nano had caught fire, he said, and the results could have been a lot worse given his job at an airport.

"I am still kind of freaked out that after only a year and a half my iPod caught fire in my pocket," Williams told WSBTV.

"So I look down and I see flames coming up to my chest. If [the US Transportation Security Administration] had come by and seen me smoking, they could have thought I was a terrorist."

The cause of the fire is not yet known, but Apple has requested the unit back and has promised to replace it.

The Nano range uses lithium ion batteries that have been the subject of overheating problems in mobile phones, digital cameras and laptops.

Problems occur if the battery is contaminated with metal fragments that cause short circuits and ignite the battery's flammable fluids.

See also:

Yet another Toshiba battery recall

Fourth battery recall in barely a year  13 Aug 2007

Sony recalls 350,000 digital cameras

Warped Cyber Shot case causes cuts and scratches  03 Aug 2007

Toshiba recalls 10,000 Sony batteries

Three fires in 10 months enough for action  20 Jul 2007

Toshiba laptop fire reignites Sony battery fiasco

Almost a year on the issue is still burning  19 Jun 2007

Nokia cleared in exploding phone case

Investigators baffled over source of fire  19 Jan 2007

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