Kennebunk Maine Teenager Hurt When iPhone Goes Up in Smoke in Her Pants Pocket

A middle-school student in Maine was treated for "moderate" burns after her iPhone caught on fire in her back pocket. The incident occurred at around 7:40 a.m. when the eighth-grade student first sat down in her classroom. According to accounts, the phone made a loud popping noise, after which her fellow students noticed smoke emitting from her back pocket.

Their first reaction was to have her stop, drop, and roll. The iPhone fell out of her pocket as the students tried to help, and that's when they noticed it was burnt.

"It was something that I don't think people had ever seen before. I've never seen anything like that," MSK Principal Jeff Rodman told the Bangor Daily News.


Those on scene from the Kennebunk Fire Rescue commended the students for their prompt response and the way they handled the situation. It's not too often that you hear about mobile phones catching on fire when situated in a person's back pocket. Typically these incidents occur when a person uses a cheaply made third-party charger or battery.

In this case, it's believed that the pressure put on the iPhone from sitting down with it in the student's back pocket may have caused the battery to short out.