The Tucson Fire Department wants to put phone charging dangers to bed, before they spark up and start a fire. TFD Captain Andy Skaggs recently saw a photo on social media that's gone around the firefighting community, and decided to share it to illustrate the point.
Where do you and your kids charge your phones or tablets? Under the pillow can damage the cord and cause a #fire #tucson stay safe pic.twitter.com/hUliabSaag
— Tucson Fire PIO (@TucsonFirePIO) July 13, 2017
"Putting the phones, the tablets like that underneath your bed is a hazard," he said. "One, it can damage the cord over time which can lead to the cord causing malfunction, but two, it's going to trap that heat in there. It's just not a place to charge."
It's more common than people would think, he explained.
"A little over 50% of teenagers who were surveyed stated that they do charge their phones underneath their pillows," Skaggs said.
While it may sound far-fetched, Capt. Skaggs explained it is a legitimate fire hazard that could end up starting a fire. He doesn't want that to happen here in Tucson.
"You're in a deep sleep, if that pillow catches fire and starts to smolder, the smoke gets to you before you have an opportunity to wake up or the smoke gets to you before your smoke alarm goes off," he said. "That's the risk, is that you're not going to wake up."
In this day and age, Skaggs said people are often glued to their phones -- they never want to miss a call, a text, a notification. He understands the feeling, but said people can still get those notifications with the phone still close, but somewhere else.
"Let's get them out from under that pillow," he said. "Put them on a dresser, a nightstand, just don't cover them up."
