Teen's Smartphone Catches Fire Under Pillow As She Sleeps

Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

A 13-year-old Texas girl recently woke up to a nightmare. Her cell phone had ignited under her pillow, and the fire melted the handset and burned the pillow, bedsheet and mattress.

Ariel Tolfree told Fox 4 in Dallas-Forth Worth that her Samsung Galaxy S4 slipped under her pillow as she fell asleep, and she was roused by the smoldering smell.

Her father, Thomas Tolfree, suspected the fire started with the battery. In its defense, Samsung told the station that the battery was a replacement and not a Samsung, and that the company's user guide warns consumers that if their units are covered by bedding or other material, choked-off airflow could cause a fire. The company has offered to pay for the bedding, mattress and a new cell phone.

The Huffington Post has reached out to Samsung for further comment.

In February an eighth-grader in Maine also learned the hard way that smartphones can be combustible -- and she was wide awake. A unit reportedly caught fire in her pocket during school, and she suffered "moderate burns."

h/t Elite Daily