Recently, in Chengdu, Sichuan, a fire accident caused by an unplugged charger occurred, resulting in almost all items in the living room of the family being burned, with preliminary estimates of losses exceeding one hundred thousand Chinese Yuan. At the time of the incident, Mr. Zhang and his family were inside the house. “In one or two minutes, the whole living room was on fire. People couldn’t breathe.” Fortunately, they managed to escape in time, and there were no casualties.
Elephant News reported that around 10 p.m. on October 24, Mr. Zhang was about to rest when he suddenly heard crackling sounds coming from the living room. He opened the bedroom door to check and saw thick smoke billowing in the living room, with a blazing fire on the sofa, rapidly climbing up to the ceiling. “It burned too quickly, in just one or two minutes, the whole living room was engulfed in flames. The smoke inside the house was thick, making it difficult to breathe, and my family and I could only crawl out on the floor.” Mr. Zhang recalled.
After about 10 minutes of firefighting efforts, the blaze was extinguished. A preliminary investigation revealed that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the charger that Mr. Zhang had failed to unplug, igniting the nearby sofa and triggering the fire. Mr. Zhang mentioned that the TV, sound system, and other electronic devices in the living room were all destroyed by the fire, and the house’s decorations suffered significant damage, with initial estimates of losses exceeding 100,000 Yuan.
This incident has sparked discussions among netizens, generating a hot search topic.
“So frightening, from now on, I must pay attention and check the electrical plugs before leaving the house.”
“I always thought leaving the charger plugged in was just wasting electricity, never realized it could be so dangerous.”
“Generic chargers! If it were Samsung or Apple, it definitely wouldn’t catch fire.”
Some netizens also expressed their relief: “It’s fortunate that everyone is safe. Material possessions can be replaced. This incident serves as a warning for all of us.”
This is not an isolated case; in recent years, fire accidents caused by unplugged chargers have been frequent. According to official statistics, there are over 20,000 incidents of fires caused by “unplugged chargers” each year. The use of low-quality chargers, overloading of current by charging multiple devices simultaneously, among other factors, are also significant contributors to fire incidents.