This girl was on fire…literally. Because her iPhone, that’s why. I can’t make these things up; I just write about them.
A teenager in Maine was sitting in class, minding her own business, when the learning process was rudely interrupted by a sudden popping noise, followed by billows of smoke that seemed to be coming from her pants.
Moments later, her pants were actually on fire.
Luckily for her, quick thinking classmates came to her aid, instead of pulling out phones and yelling “Worldstar!”
Another student notified the teacher, who retrieved a fire extinguisher and fire blanket.
According to Kennebunk Middle School’s principal, Jeff Rodman, the cause of the seemingly spontaneous combustion was revealed when the fourteen year old’s iPhone 5C fell out of her back pocket.
“The phone fell out of her pocket and it was still smoldering. Her pants were still on fire,” he said.
Emergency workers were called to the school to assist the student.
She was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for first and second degree burns and released 45 minutes later. She asked to return to class, but school officials and healthcare workers urged her to take it easy and go home.
Her mother, Judy Milligan, gave her the iPhone 5C as a gift two months earlier.
“I was a little bit in shock,” Milligan said, upon hearing of the gift going up in the flames.
Kennebunk fire officials warned the public of the dangers of keeping your phone in your pocket:
“People should obviously use caution when placing their phones in their back pockets so as not to crush them and cause an electrical short,” said one official.
This isn’t the first time an Apple product has burst into flames, either.
An Apple iPad Air sent sparks flying at an Australian Vodafone retail store last November, resulting in the store’s evacuation.
This is really making me rethink sleeping with my iPhone under my pillow.
Stay safe out there, team iPhone.
April Dawn (@scarlettsinatra)