COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Last Friday’s fire at the Whispering Pines apartment complex was traced to a cell phone that was stored in a wooden drawer and not actively plugged into a charger that is many times the case in those types of fires.
Coldwater Fire Marshall Steve Trall says the old phone was in the drawer with combustible materials. He says older cell phones’ lithium batteries degrade over time. The chemicals then come together and combust, and that’s when fires happen.
Trall also said the fire that damaged four apartments could have been much worse had it not been for the firewalls that kept the blaze from spreading further. He also said that had there been a sprinkler system, that fire would have been contained to the bedroom where the cell phone was being stored.
It is recommended to recycle old unused cell phones to prevent having a potential fire hazard in your home.
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