11-Year-Old Boy's Samsung Tablet Overheats and Burns Into Bed: His 'Life Could Have Been at Risk'
An 11-year-old England boy woke up Thursday morning to find that his Samsung tablet had overheated and burned through his bed — just inches from where he laid his head, reports say.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service responded to the incident at the family’s Staffordshire home after the boy woke to find his room covered in soot, the BBC reported. The table was connected to a charger when it began to overheat and burned through to the bed spring, according to the outlet.
Callum Hewkin had been watching a show on the tablet before falling asleep, according to the Daily Mail. The family said Hewkin was not allowed to have the tablet in his room at night, as they have strict rules for electronics in the home.
“The last thing anyone wants is to wake up and find their child seriously injured or dead because a tablet or phone has set a fire in their room,” Hewkin’s father, Stewart, said, according to the Daily Mail. “We feel like we’ve had a lucky escape — Callum’s life could have been at risk.”
Samsung responded to the incident in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Product quality and customer safety are our top priorities at Samsung,” the company said in a statement. “We are currently reaching out to the customer to conduct a full investigation of this matter. Until Samsung is able to obtain and examine the device, it is impossible to determine what happened.”
The family said they bought the tablet brand new four years ago and it had been connected to the charger overnight starting at 9 p.m., according to 9News. Firefighter Brad Robins said the incident could have been much worse.
“This family has been greatly shocked by what has happened and it serves as a stark reminder not to leave items charging on materials that could catch fire when hot,” he said, according to 9News.
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“Always place phones and tablets on to a safe surface when charging,” Robins added. “Make sure you buy genuine chargers for your items and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.”
Firefighters said they installed two smoke alarms at the property and gave tips for preventing similar incidents.
“Ensure that your smoke alarms are working correctly by testing them regularly,” Robins said, according to 9News. “This building did not have working smoke alarms which may have alerted the family to the incident earlier.”
As for the family, they said the incident has left them worried for the future.
“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,” Hewkin’s mother, Amy, said, according to the Daily Mail. “We were terrified it could happen again.”
