"Man critically burned in fire started in cell phone" Or was he...

[Lyte]

Man critically burned in fire started in cell phone
Matt Hamblen January 16, 2007 (Computerworld)

A veteran Vallejo, Calif., fire investigator said a cell phone that was left on caught fire in a sleeping man's pocket, causing a fire that critically burned the man and heavily damaged his apartment.

The man, Luis Picaso, 59, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60% of his body, including his upper torso and arms, in the fire late Saturday night, said the investigator, Bill Tweedy of the Vallejo Fire Department, in an interview today. The victim was listed in critical condition this morning at the University of California at Davis Medical Center, a spokeswoman said.

Picaso lives in a downtown apartment in a four-story building that once served as a hotel, Tweedy said. The fire in the second-floor apartment caused $30,000 in damages, but the fire was mostly contained because a sprinkler system was activated. The man was found in a bathroom by firefighters.

Tweedy said a thorough investigation showed nothing else in the bathroom could have ignited the fire, such as matches or a lighter. "The only thing that was a power source was the cell phone," Tweedy said.

Tweedy said it was a "pretty new cell phone" that was just a voice device, and not a smart phone. He refused to disclose the brand, saying it was not the kind of accident that would necessitate a manufacturer's recall.

"I think it was just a malfunction," Tweedy explained. "The phone was in his pants pocket and he was leaning against a chair asleep, so one button was depressed. That meant power was going through the phone, and the phone overheated."

It didn't help that the victim's pants were a polyester blend, which caught fire and then ignited his nylon shirt and jacket, Tweedy said. The fire spread from the victim to the plastic chair he was seated on, and the flame and heat from the chair set off the sprinkler.

The victim was unable to explain what happened since he was unconscious when found, Tweedy said. The investigator said the victim had a blood alcohol level of 0.325, which may have impaired his judgment in responding to the burning phone.

"I just think it was a freak accident," said Tweedy, who has been a firefighter and investigator for more than 20 years. "The lesson to be learned is that a cell phone is a piece of electrical equipment, and any piece of electrical equipment can short circuit or malfunction."

See follow up story below...

[Lyte]

Hmm....

Cell phone ruled out as cause of fire that injured man
Matt Hamblen January 18, 2007 (Computerworld)

A Vallejo, Calif., fire investigator reversed an earlier finding and said today that a cell phone was not the cause of a fire that critically burned a man and damaged the man's apartment.

The investigator, William Tweedy, had said in a written report issued Saturday that a cell phone malfunctioned, igniting the fire, but today Tweedy said in an interview that the phone was not to blame, based on a test conducted by a Nokia Corp. phone expert.

Meanwhile, the man, Luis Picaso, 59, remained in critical condition at the University of California at Davis Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. Tweedy said the man had undergone surgery yesterday and was recovering. Fire officials have not been able to interview him since the surgery.

Tweedy said he called Nokia for assistance in the investigation. He added that he did not feel compelled by any source to revise his findings. "I called Nokia, and their expert performed the test in front of me," he said. The test was conducted yesterday.

"The phone still works, so it's ruled out as the ignition source," Tweedy said. The phone, a Nokia 2125i, was fairly new and was burned, but apparently the fire started somewhere else, Tweedy said.

Tweedy also ruled out "everything" remaining in the second-story apartment as a source of the fire, including the stove, electrical outlets and ignitable liquids. "Whatever caused the fire, the evidence of that thing burned up in the fire," Tweedy said, referring to a cigarette or match as an example of evidence that might have burned up.




Fire officials have ruled out this Nokia phone as the cause of a fire
that critically injured a man who had the phone in his pocket. The
cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Courtesy of Vallejo, Calif., Fire Department

Tweedy said the Nokia expert, whom he would not name, could make the burned phone work, and could make a phone call with it. The battery in the phone was undamaged, Tweedy said.

Nokia officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

Tweedy said that there was no evidence of a circuit board fire inside the phone and that the plastic case of the phone was burned from the outside, as well as a part of the leather phone case. He provided a photo of the burned phone to Computerworld, and has kept the phone for evidence. Picaso has retained an attorney, but Tweedy would not release his name.

The phone would have had to have ignited with a spark or an arc of electricity inside the phone, Tweedy explained. He said the phone would not have gotten hot enough to cause a fire if there had not been a malfunction. The phone was in the pants pocket of the victim, and the man's pants and shirt were burned, resulting in second- and third-degree burns on his upper torso and arms.

The phone would have needed to reach about 300 degrees to set the pants on fire, he estimated, far above the heat generated by a phone that is properly working.

"Originally, I thought the phone short-circuited or burned up to get hot enough to cause a fire, but that's not the case," Tweedy said.

Tweedy, who has been a firefighter and fire investigator for more than 20 years, said he has not encountered anything similar. "This is one of those things where I wish I wasn't the investigator responding," he said, alluding to the expected legal battle over the cause of the fire.

"I was confident with my initial findings, but on the first day I had no ability to test the phone," he said. When he got the burned phone, he took out the battery and packaged it separately from the phone to transport to his office in case the phone caught fire in his truck or office, he said.

Tweedy plans to interview Picaso again once his condition improves. Fire officials said he had a blood alcohol level of 0.325 and was interviewed with the help of a Spanish interpreter shortly after the fire, but Picaso could not say what happened. Damage from the fire was estimated at $75,000 in a revised estimate. Included in the damage was a plastic patio chair that was nearly incinerated just outside the bathroom where Picaso was found. The chair was directly under a sprinkler, which was activated and helped contain the fire.

Tweedy said his investigation has been reviewed by other members of his department, as well as by the Nokia expert and an insurance investigator. The insurance investigator also initially believed the phone was the cause of the fire, he said.