An Atlanta man literally had his "pants on fire" when the iPhone 6 Plus inside his pocket caught fire.
The accident occurred the afternoon of Dec. 1 while the man, Rocky, was loading up his vehicle at the Home Depot parking lot. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation and noticed smoke emerging from the front pocket of his pants.
He reacted quickly and stripped off his pants, that's when he realized the iPhone 6 Plus was on fire. As he turned his head away, he could only hope that the phone would not explode.
"It burned pretty much my whole front pocket, burned my boxers, started to burn my leg, but I had moved it away in time so it wouldn't burn me," said Rocky.
Luckily, he escaped from his pants with no serious injury and emerged unscathed, barring the embarrassment of being almost half-naked in a public place. It is humiliating having to take off your pants in a parking lot, after all.
Further investigation into what caused the iPhone 6 Plus bursting into flames led to the discovery that the device was refurbished and sold by a third-party to his carrier.
Whether the network operator advertised the handset as a new unit or refurbished at the time of purchase is unclear. Interestingly, Rocky does not want to sue anybody for the incident and merely wants an apology. The refurbishing company already sent Rocky a replacement unit.
So what causes smartphones to combust, you wonder? Usually, it is an unstable and faulty battery. Apart from physical deformity, one way to damage batteries is by using third-party and low-quality chargers.
Apple is reportedly looking into the matter and investigating what may have caused the iPhone 6 Plus to catch fire.
