Do you charge your phone or tablet on your bed while they sleep? How about on the floor near your bed? I must confess I am guilty of both.
An 11-year-old boy and his parents are trying to warn those who like to sleep with their electronics nearby to reconsider after a scary incident caused the boy’s tablet to melt into his bed.
“The last thing anyone wants is to wake up and find their child seriously injured or dead because a tablet or phone has set fire in their room,” the boy’s father said according to the Daily Mail.
Like many others today, 11-year-old Callum Hewkin took his tablet to bed to go to sleep while watching a streaming show. He left the device plugged in and drifted off to sleep.
At some point during the night, while he slept, the tablet started overheating.
After hearing his wife scream, Callum’s father ran upstairs.
“I went into Callum’s room and there was a big burn mark right by where his head had been, and the room was full of white smoke,” he said.
Callum’s room was full of smoke.
“I was gobsmacked, I never thought it would happen to us or that something like that even could happen – you don’t expect an iPad or tablet to just start burning like that.”
“It is quite terrifying.”
According to the Daily Mail, fire crews said if the tablet was left in its current condition for just a few more minutes than it could have been a fatal accident.
Even though there was a lot of smoke in the 11-year-old’s room, Callum’s door stopped the smoke from triggering the home’s smoke detectors.
After the scary ordeal, the entire family and the fire department are warning others to unplug their devices and take them off flammable surfaces before they go to sleep.
“We went to bed the next night and we didn’t put our phones on charge or anything, we turned off all the plugs by the wall. We were terrified it could happen again. The plug and cable were still in perfect condition and it can’t be our home’s electrics because they didn’t trip. How could this not be a faulty tablet, when the battery itself has basically exploded?”
Remember to unplug those devices, get them off the bed even if unplugged just to be safe. Also, make sure you have batteries in those smoke detectors. Keep you and your family safe!
Share this post to warn others about the dangers of leaving your electronics on your bed while sleeping.
