Portable Phone Charger Randomly Starts on Fire and Explodes

Last Tuesday a man got a hell of a wake-up call in the middle of the night from the thing that was supposed to charge his phone.

A viral video shows a guy who is taking a video of his portable phone charging battery pack after he said he woke up to it on fire. He drug the smoldering plastic device outside on a pair of jeans and onto his deck. Then, almost as if on cue, the charger interrupts his explanation of what happened by exploding on camera.

In the description of the video the man says it was a Belkin 4000.

There have been stories in the news for years about batteries starting on fire or exploding. How does this happen? According to a technology expert, the very nature of lithium-ion batteries makes them slightly vulnerable to fire if used improperly. The biggest concern with these sorts of batteries is that if they are allowed to get hot and no precaution to keep them cool is taken, they have the potential to start on fire.

After seeing this video it freaked me out more than just a little bit. I have literally slept in a sleeping bag with one of these portable chargers. While sleeping in the woods on a backpack hunt, I would charge my phone at night just like I would at home. To have sufficient power to keep my phone charged I will bring two or three of these charges fully charged. The last thing I want to have happen is to wake up in the middle of the night three miles from my truck with my charger on fire.

I think I'll charge it during the daylight from now on.