Aug 10, 2006 10:55 pm US/Central
Laptop Computer Fires On The Rise
by Ginger Allen
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
An Arizona man says sparks from his laptop computer ignited a box of ammunition that caused his truck to explode.
CBS 11 News uncovered the danger with laptop computers back in May and now it seems the problem is on the rise with a number of manufacturers.
In the heart of the Mojave Desert, in the heat of the day, Thomas Forqueran and his buddy were packing up from a fishing trip. The two had just put Forquerans' Dell laptop computer inside his father's 1966 vintage Ford pick-up, when they heard a popping noise and smelt smoke.
"I ran over and jerked open the door and flames were coming out the laptop," Forqueran said.
After the two men smelled the smoke they remembered the boxes of ammunition inside the trucks' glove box.
Both men say they took cover before a pillar of flames shot 15 to 20 feet into the air.
Within minutes Forqueran's prized truck was destroyed. He calls the laptop the, 'charred culprit' that started the blaze.
The scenario is similar to what Cindy Brown described in April when her 11-year-old walked away from his Apple i-Book.
"My husband and I were in the other room, heard a popping noise, came out and the room was filled with smoke," says Brown. "I mean it was five minutes and it was in flames. The computer burst into flames."
In recent weeks laptop fires are becoming big talk on technology blogs. A computer at a company in Illinois burned. One on a college campus in Utah charred the desk. Probably the mostly widely surfed blog concerns a laptop in Japan that burst into flames at a conference.
Security consultant Scott Rynd is one of many industry insiders who say the problem is the lithium batteries. "The technology for computers has far out-paced the engineering for batteries," he said.
According to Rynd says as batteries get smaller, they become over packed with power and overheat.
With the demand for laptops increasing the big computer companies are all buying batteries overseas... where safety rules are not always up to U.S. standards.
In 2004 and 2005 Apple, Dell and HP collectively recalled more than 300,000 laptop batteries due to fire hazards.
Following the 2004 wave of recalls the Consumer Product Safety Commission says computer manufacturers met to set performance standards. To date, the government confirms the problem is on the rise.
The CPSC has received 176 incidents involving laptop fires due to battery or power system failure since 2003. More than 100 of those incidents were in 2005.
Now Thomas Forqueran will be added to the 2006 statistics.
"It wasn't just a truck, it was a very special part of the family," Forqueran said.
A spokesperson for Dell says it will investigate Forqueran's case. He says safety teams are taking the incidents seriously.
HP has had two voluntary battery recalls in the last nine months. Tom Augenthaler, a Hewlett Packard public relations representative, released a statement that said in part, "HP fully stands behind the products it makes and has taken a proactive approach to this situation."
Apple Computers gave CBS 11 News a no comment for our last story. This time, our calls weren't returned.
(CBS 11 News)
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