The Public Opinion
FAYETTEVILLE, Pa. — Firefighters are warning drivers to unplug all electrical chargers from their vehicles when they are not running, after a charging iPod caused a Chevrolet Suburban to burn up last week.
According to Dustin Ulrich, deputy fire chief for Fayetteville Volunteer Fire Department, the interior of a Suburban was destroyed overnight on Jan. 21.
He said the owner, a Greene Township man, parked his vehicle in the garage and went to bed for the night, then went into the garage the next morning to find that a fire had gutted the interior of the vehicle and melted the front window.
The fire snuffed itself out without catching the garage on fire.
A state police fire marshal told Ulrich that the iPod, which was plugged into the cigarette lighter overnight, had caused the “back feed” into the power outlet.
Because vehicle charger outlets do not have the same breaker systems as homes, all it takes is a failed fuse for a fire to start.
“The home owner and his family were very lucky in this case,” the fire company’s Web site said.
Ulrich warns everyone to unplug all iPods, cell phones, chargers, global positioning systems and similar devices when they turn their cars off.
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