Teenager’s phone explodes in his pocket

A Colorado Springs teenager’s phone exploded during class while it was in his pocket.

With the help of some classmates at Thomas A. Doherty High School, Joshua Ulku was able to get the phone out of his pocket quickly, but he was still left with first-degree burns.

His father, Scott Ulku is thankful it wasn’t worse.

“That’s the battery that exploded,” Scott Ulku said while holding the charred Samsung Galaxy S6.

Ulku’s son’s phone doesn’t look like much of a phone anymore.

“I guess the flames were shooting out this way,” Ulku said.

Joshua was taking a test at his high school Thursday morning when he smelled smoke and felt burning in his pocket.

“He stood up and smoke just started shooting out into his face so he couldn’t breath and he tried to reach into his pocket and pull the phone out and he burned his hand,” Ulku said.

Another student was able to get the phone out with a t-shirt, and threw it out still smoking onto the grass.

“They got it out of my son’s pocket as the flames were coming out and that’s why he got the burns,” Ulku said. “If it had stayed in there just a couple more seconds it would have been bad.”

Now Joshua is left with first-degree burns on his side.

Joshua’s phone isn’t the only one with the problem. We did a quick internet search and found pages full of pictures, videos and comments of the Samsung Galaxy S6 exploding.

“From the battery because the battery lays right on top of that,” Ulku said.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 started contacting Samsung Saturday looking for answers.

On Sunday, a Samsung spokesperson released this statement:

“The reported incident is extremely rare. We were very sorry to hear about Joshua’s experience and we are reaching out to his family to understand what happened and provide support. Any occurrence, however rare, is taken very seriously and we work closely with our customers to investigate the unique circumstances that may have led to the incident. We recommend that all of our customers follow CTIA guidelines to ensure the best possible mobile experience and contact us immediately at 1-800-SAMSUNG with product questions or concerns.”

“I contacted them that day (Thursday) and they did a ticket on it,” Ulka said.

Ulka says after persistent calls he got call back on Saturday.

“They’re willing to compensate for the phone and medical,” Ulka said.

Ulka wants others to know that this can happen to anyone.

“I just want everybody to be aware of what can happen, and the dangers,” Ulka said.