SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20201216-7FE68-2147367410. Severity: Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received. Product: Verizon CAB6FTCTOA-M1 DC191007 (L) (Verizon USB Data Cable 6 Ft for USB-C for charging Model CAB6FTCTOA-M1 DC191007 (L)). Incident: On Sepetember 30, 2020, I went to a Verizon Corporate store in Santa Monica, California and purchased a Verizon brand USB-C cable to charge my phone. I showed the representative my device and it was confirmed that the cable I was purchasing was compatible with my device, and the two charging ports I intended to use. After using the cable for the last two months, on the evening of Sunday December 13, 2020, my phone was plugged into this cable, charging, while I held my phone in my lap. I started to hear a crackling sound and felt extreme heat in my hand, and immediatly dropped the phone on the chair and unplugged the charger from the wall, and then from my phone. There was smoke and a burning plastic smell coming from the end of the cable, and the charging port in my phone was damaged. I know with absolute certainty, that it was the cable that caused this. I tested other cables using different charging stations and different outlets in my home after this transpired; none of the other cables or products replicated this reaction. I tested the Verizon cable again, in a different outlet in my home, and once again, it started to spark, smoke, and produced a melted subtance from its metal end, which I believe is from the coating it melted off of the charging port in my phone. It also permanently damaged the charging port of my phone, in the first instance, which is visibly noticible. The following day, I returned to the store where I purchased the cable, with my phone and cable, and reported what happened to an employee named [REDACTED]. He refused the need to inspect my phone, no