Fire warning after overheated phone charger blaze

Fire authorities have warned of the danger of phone and laptop chargers overheating, following a house fire in Dublin.

The warning comes after a house in Castleknock was extensively damaged over the weekend after a phone charger overheated. Nobody was injured in the blaze.

Following the incident, Dublin Fire Brigade tweeted pictures of the damage, warning of the danger of overheating chargers.

“It’ll never happen to me! Well it did this morning in west Dublin, fire caused by phone charger over heating. Beware,” it said.

Speaking to RTÉ radio, third officer with Dublin Fire Brigade Greg O’Dwyer said incidents of fires being sparked by phone chargers were on the rise.

“It’s something that we see not too frequently but it’s happening more and more, whereby people leave a phone or a laptop or some other electronic device on charge in contact with some textiles. In this case it was a duvet from a bed. We see a lot of these incidents with people leaving a laptop charging on a bed,” he said.

Mr O’Dwyer advised people not to leave phone or laptop chargers plugged in once the device has charged.

“It’s fine to charge your phone overnight if its charged on a bedside table or where it’s not in contact with any combustible materials. As soon as the phone is charged, take the charger out because it is still generating heat and it could overheat, especially if it’s a faulty device.”