Teen Boy’s Mobile Charger Bursts Into Flames In Backpack

A portable mobile charger, owned by a teen in Castle Rock, Colorado exploded in his backpack just a week after he got it.

Chrystian Walsh, like many teens, has a stickler for keeping his cell phone fully charged while he is traveling which seems like a challenge sometimes.

The Anker Power Core Portable charger 13000 off in question was a gift from his grandmom which she bought him from Amazon.

Walsh told Fox Denver 31, “It has a large battery, so it can charge two things. It’s very nice.”

The charger burst on Friday when Walsh was gearing up to complete some school work downstairs. It was an unexpected noise that shook him.

“I heard a fuse for like a firecracker firework go off,” he said. He searched for his backpack which he saw caught fire.

“I grabbed the bag, ran upstairs, my mom grabbed the fire extinguisher and I tossed the bag outside quickly and then she doused it in the fire extinguisher liquid.”

Even though the charger burned a hole in his backpack, he luckily escaped injuries.

Walsh also revealed that the charger went up in flames when it was not on action. He also added that the product wasn’t damaged in the week he got it and he has an inkling something wrong might have happened during the shipping process. He is still doubtful why the charger had suddenly exploded.

“A good quarter of it was pretty much melted and you could see all the batteries and stuff inside of it,” Walsh stated.

There have been several complaints around these types of charging devices documented by Consumer Product Safety Commission. However, the product has incurred mostly positive reviews on Amazon.

Walsh and his mother intimated Anker as soon as this incident happened. Grieving the inconvenience, the company asked them to ship the charger back and reimburse for it.

FOX31 contacted the company but found the customer service center closed. However, their e-mail support team promised to respond within 24 hours.

Walsh feels blessed to have escaped an accident. He said, “I don’t know what I would have done if it was at the library, perhaps, or school. That would have been very bad."