Teen injured after phone charger explodes, sparks house fire
By John Atwater
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TOPSFIELD, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A 16-year-old girl from Topsfield, Massachusetts, is recovering from minor burns after a portable phone charger exploded, igniting a fire at her friend’s house on Saturday.
Audra Cataldo was watching a movie with friends when her phone, which was magnetically attached to a portable charger, suddenly caught fire.
“I looked down—my whole arm was covered in flame,” Cataldo said. “It hurt.”
The flames scorched her sweatshirt and left small burns on her arm. A loud sizzling noise followed, and the back of the phone blew up. Thick black smoke filled the room, causing a panic among the teens.
“We were afraid the house would go down too,” Cataldo said.
Johannes Booy, the father of Cataldo’s friend, said the situation could have been far worse.
“If they were asleep in bed, it would have been catastrophic,” he said. “They wouldn’t have had time to get out.”
The fire started in a bedroom where the teens were sitting on a mattress. According to Booy, the pillows on the bed melted like plastic. The girls managed to evacuate safely as firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames.
Cataldo had been using a portable charger purchased on Amazon, which was plugged in at the time of the explosion.
She said the experience was “pretty traumatic” and vowed not to use portable chargers again.
Topsfield Fire Chief Jenifer Collins-Brown said firefighters quickly responded and the blaze was brought under control within 45 minutes, limiting the damage to around $5,000.
The fire remains under investigation, with help from the Massachusetts state fire marshal’s office. Fire officials have issued safety reminders about the use of lithium-ion batteries, urging caution with portable chargers and other devices.
“We commend the young people in the home for recognizing the danger, calling 911, and evacuating immediately,” Chief Collins-Brown said.
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