Charging Samsung Phone Catches Fire, Causes Blaze At Hospital

A plugged-in Samsung phone caused a fire at the Hackettstown Medical Center in New Jersey on Thursday, police said in a statement Monday.

In a Facebook post, the Hackettstown Police Department said the officers along with the Hackettstown Fire Department, and the Hackettstown First Aid and Rescue Squad responded to the medical center Thursday afternoon following reports of a fire on the third floor of the building. Upon arrival, officials realized the fire was extinguished and the “hospital security carried the charging station outside.” The blaze did cause “smoke condition on the third floor”, however, no injuries were reported.

An investigation revealed the blaze was caused by a charging phone that caught fire.

“Through an investigation it was determined that a Samsung Galaxy S7 cell phone caught fire and melted to a cell phone charging tower,” the post said.

Several people commented on the Facebook post with some even blaming the charger and battery for the fire.

“Fun fact, all lithium polymer batteries are just fireballs waiting to burst. They are great batteries but. . . Just be smart with them. Literally any device containing a lipo battery can go up in smoke if you overheat it, overcharge it, or break the battery cell,” one user wrote. “A cheap charger could definitely cause the phone to overcharge,” wrote another user.

The incident comes months after a Samsung phone overheated and exploded in a Florida man’s hand. Jonathan Wright was walking along a canal when his Samsung Galaxy S5 phone overheated and burst into flames.

"It started to get very, very hot. I switched hands so I didn't drop it in the canal and it burst into flames. I dropped it on the ground and there was nothing I could do but just watch it burn," Wright said, adding that he considered himself lucky to have escaped with minor burns.