SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20180615-11854-1768556. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Toshiba Satelite A500 series (Laptop battery). Incident: Caller reported that the laptop battery overheated while charging for a few hours, there was a popping noise and she noticed smoke emitting from underneath the laptop. She immediately unplugged the unit and noticed that there was black soot on the carpet from where the laptop was located. She removed it and placed it outside. Caller stated that after placing it outside she noticed that it started to smoke more excessively and then erupted in flames, she used her garden hose to contain the flames and threw it further away from the house. She contacted the fire department because she was scared the fire would spread to her house. The fire department came out and looked at the laptop and advised that the fire was contained and should not place it back in her house. They advised her that they would check to see if there had been a recall. Caller stated that the manufacturer will be contacted later. Caller still has the laptop outside. She feels that this laptop battery is a fire hazard. Update to this report: Caller did contact the manufacturer Toshiba on July 15, 2018. The battery replacement was purchased on [REDACTED] or {REDACTED] about 5 years and was specifically made for that laptop. Toshiba claimed no responsibility due to the original battery had a recall on it, but caller was never notified. They claim it was on the news. Original purchase of laptop March 2010 from Best Buy.