Even as reports of the Galaxy Note 7 bursting into flames was becoming fairly common in the global online media, the United States was largely conspicuous by its absence from the list of countries reporting such incidents. However, when it rains, it pours, and that’s exactly what seems to be happening now, with at least three reports of alleged Galaxy Note 7 fires coming to light from different parts of the U.S. over the past couple of days. While the first such incident was reported yesterday from Orange County, Florida, another fire that took place last Sunday in Horry County, South Carolina, came to the fore earlier today. Now we have a third incident of somebody in the U.S. claiming that his new smartphone is the latest in a long line of Galaxy Note 7 handsets to have burst into flames.
According to a report carried by FOX 13 News, a resident of St. Petersburg, Florida, may have had a narrow escape when his Jeep Cherokee caught fire, allegedly because of an exploding Galaxy Note 7. The incident apparently took place on Labor Day, when Mr. Nathan Dornacher returned home from a yard sale after buying a desk for his 8-year old daughter. According to his Facebook post, he had left his Galaxy Note 7 in the SUV to charge while he took the desk inside, but it was only when he came back to the vehicle to take his pet dog to the local Petco that he saw flames engulfing the area around the phone. While the fire extinguisher would have come in real handy just then, neither he nor his wife could find it, which meant by the time firefighters arrived on scene, the car was totaled. Thankfully, though, no one was hurt in the incident.
Mr. Dornacher did make it a point to mention that neither he nor the investigators have been able to conclusively say that the phone is indeed to be blamed for the fire, but “all signs are pointing that way”. Samsung has issued a statement to the media saying that the company is “aware of the incident,” and is “working with Mr. Dornacher to investigate his case and ensure we do everything we can for him”.
