My iPhone charger almost set my house on fire this morning – learn from my mistake so it doesn’t happen to you

• Mum’s iPhone charger scorches her bedroom rug
• The charger’s top melted off and sparked alight  
• READ MORE: Why you should NEVER charge your iPhone under your pillow: Apple issues warning about the dangers of giving devices juice while you sleep 

A mum has issued a urgent warning to smartphone users after her charging cable caught fire on Wednesday.

Bel’s iPhone charger, which hadn’t been purchased from Apple, was sitting plugged in to the wall but unused in her bedroom when she started to smell smoke.

The cable had sparked and started a small fire on her rug shortly after she’d taken her phone off.

She said it was lucky she was at home to catch and extinguish the fire before it had engulfed more of her home, and issued a word of caution for others to stay safe. 

‘Laying in bed this morning and could smell what I thought was electrical burning smell. Thought it may have been wires in the ceiling and the smell coming through the air-con vents,’ Bel wrote in a post to Mum Central. 

‘I got up was just about to go up into the roof to see if the smell was up there and my son walked into our bedroom and asked why there was smoke!’

Scroll down for video 

Mum Bel has a close call after her iPhone charger started a small fire in her bedroom scorching her rug 

The mum ran back to her bedroom where she saw smoke coming form her rug where her iPhone cable was lying. 

When Bel lifted it off the rug, she said it was ‘glowing bright orange’ and on fire where the end had melted off. 

‘I used it to charge my phone last night and noticed it was a bit hot when I unplugged it half hour before but didn’t think too much of it,’ she said. 

‘Normally we would have now been out at school drop-off but thankfully it’s school holidays so we are home to avert what could have been a huge disaster. Our house would be on fire!’

Bel shared the scary incident as a warning to others to stay vigilant around chargers, phones and electronics. 

She said it was lucky she was at home to catch the fire before it had engulfed more of her home and issued a word of caution for others to stay safe

The mum was not using an Apple charger for her iPhone and it is unknown which brand she had.

Apple’s iPhone user guide states the devices should only be charged with cables and power adaptors from Apple, labelled ‘Made for iPhone’ or from third parties that are compliant with USB 2.0 or later that meet safety standards. 

‘Other adaptors may not meet applicable safety standards, and charging with such adaptors could pose a risk of death or injury,’ the guide reads. 

It also warns against charging when moisture is present, in places with poor ventilation and when touching metallic foreign objects like keys, coins, batteries or jewellery.

Many were shocked by Bel’s close call while others said similar things had happened to them.   

‘That’s scary, glad you guys were home and averted disaster,’ one woman said. 

READ MORE: Thousands are only just discovering what the line at the bottom of the iPhone screen is really for: ‘I had no idea’

Another said she had a scare with a cheap charger she bought online for her Apple watching. 

‘I was charging my watch and went to check on it and it was stuck to the bench as it had melted. Lucky I don’t charge things overnight,’ she recalled. 

Someone recommended wireless charging devices while another said never to leave gadgets charging ‘on anything metal’.  

‘Never leave chargers switched on when not connected to whatever,’ one user advised. 

‘They are notorious for the wires breaking in that spot, which means that electricity has to jump the break. This creates a arc or spark and then you have a fire.’

Source: Read Full Article