Boy Burned When Cell Phone Explodes in Pocket
By: KARE
Updated: February 22, 2013
(KARE) A Rochester, Minnesota middle school student was burned Wednesday and his classroom was evacuated when his cell phone exploded in his pocket.
"We have seen reports and had reports be submitted to the Consumer Products Safety Commission of cell phone batteries bursting and then the entire phone almost exploding, sometimes catching on fire," CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said Thursday evening.
What happens is called thermal runaway.
"Thermal runaway is a domino effect so the battery gets hot and that makes a chemical reaction such that it gets hotter and hotter until gases escape or it explodes," Matt Gray, Technology Director for Clockwork Media Systems explained.
There are common things that can cause this.
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