iPhone started fire, Winnipegger says By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/11/2019 (2111 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The iPhone has long been a hot item, but for one Winnipeg family, it got too hot.

Wally Hill says earlier this month, he, along with his wife and daughter, were watching television, with his daughter’s iPhone 6 sitting unplugged on the cushion between them, when the smartphone set the couch on fire.

“It was frightening,” Hill said. “It didn’t explode… it fizzled and popped open at the back, and then smoke and flames came out the back. It then ignited the cushion.”

Hill said he quickly picked up the entire couch cushion, with the burning phone still on it, to move the device to a tile floor in his residence.

“It continued to smoke and burn for another 15 seconds. There was so much smoke, we had to open the doors and windows to let the smoke out,” he said.

“Ten minutes later, I picked it up with an oven mitt — that’s how hot it was.”

Hill said the phone, which belonged to his wife until they gave it to their daughter, was not plugged in at the time. He said when he did some internet research, he found her iPhone 6 wasn’t the first to catch fire.

Hill said he reached out to iPhone maker Apple Inc. After communicating back and forth with a representative who asked for the phone back in return for the company giving him a replacement, he decided to go higher.

“I’ve said from the beginning I wasn’t seeking money– I just want a new phone, my couch repaired, and the acknowledgment.” – Wally Hill

“I understand Tim Cook (Apple chief executive officer) is accessible, so I emailed him,” he said. “Two hours later, a senior PR person phoned me. But they also said they wanted to capture the phone.”

Hill said he doesn’t want to hand over the phone until he hears a statement from the U.S.-based company.

“I want an acknowledgement from Apple that this issue is an ongoing problem. If not, I feel it is incumbent on me to do something to warn people,” he said.

“All I can think is: what if my daughter had the phone in her pocket? Ten minutes later, she would have had it in her pocket while driving. Or what if a child took it to bed and had it on their pillow?

“I think it is irresponsible of Apple not to discuss this.”

An Apple spokeswoman returned a call from the Free Press, but said she would not comment on the record about Hill’s case.

Hill said he isn’t coming forward looking to make a large cash settlement from Apple.

“I’ve said from the beginning I wasn’t seeking money — I just want a new phone, my couch repaired, and the acknowledgment. Most people would just take it to the store and that’s the end of it,” he said.

“I’m saying, you’re not getting the phone until I get an acknowledgment of this.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

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