Watch: iPhone plugged in for charging explodes & catches fire, family has lucky escape

A family in the United States was lucky to escape a major tragedy after the iPhone they had plugged in for charging overnight in the kitchen caught fire and exploded.

The family members were fast asleep when the incident took place in Cincinnati, Ohio. The incident was captured on CCTV footage in the home.

“We were extremely lucky to avoid a house fire,” house owner Jennifer Leisgang said. The old phone had been given to the children for watching videos,” she explained.

According to Viral Press, which released the video, the iPhone 4 was manufactured in 2010. The information put in a Facebook post, was aimed to warn others to be careful as such a mishap could take place.

Fox10 reported that the incident took place at around 1am on January 9.

“Our kids were charging our old iPhone 4 with the Apple charger last night and it exploded and caught on fire in our kitchen while we were sleeping. Luckily we had just cleaned off the counter as it usually has lots of school books and papers in that area,” she pointed out.

The homeowner said she found small pieces of the phone and black soot all over the kitchen counter when she woke up in the morning.

The woman said she contacted Apple after the incident, but failed to get a straightforward explanation. The company said that the “device was vintage and they don’t expect their clients to be using a phone that old,” she said.

However, the company did ask her to send the phone in order to conduct more research.