Photos of a 15-year-old with second degree burns have been released in an attempt to warn others of the dangers of phone chargers.
Colton Pingree from Tuolumne, California, went to bed one night with a portable battery stick charging next to him on his bed.
But was woken up in the early hours of the morning by a sharp pain in his back and his bedding on fire.
His phone charger had exploded knocking him off his bed and melting the skin on his back.
But this brave teen, whose dream it is to become a firefighter, ignored the pain and leapt into action.
“I had no other choice but to think about that because I have a disabled uncle in the house and I didn’t want the fire to get worse,” Colton told The Modesto Bee.
He grabbed his bed sheets and tried to put out the flames by smothering the fire, then the smart teenager spotted his pocketknife and water bottle.
He poked a hole through the top of the water bottle, sprayed it and “just kind of rolled the fire out with a little bit of water in my hand.
“I wasn’t really stressed about it because I knew it wasn’t going to grow so fast.”
His charging stick had exploded and splattered across his room leaving burning pieces of plastic across his bedroom.
Colton’s dad decided not to take him to hospital until the following morning where a doctor applied burn cream and dressed it.
Colton now has some mild scarring but has recovered from his ordeal. His mom took to social media with pictures of her son’s injury to warn others.
“Lucky Colton will be ok. It could have been really bad if it wasn’t for his quick reaction. I myself always fall asleep with my phone on my bed. I won’t anymore,” she wrote.
Colton, who plans to take fire science classes as soon as he can, also shared his experience with his classmates, at the request of his teachers.
In July last year a family arrived home to find a fire which is believed to have started from a phone being charged on a bed.
Fire chiefs warned the public to: “use a nightstand, use a shelf, use an entry way table, something like that. Avoid placing phones or electronic devices on pillows, mattress, comforters, blankets and what not.”
This could have been so much worse but thanks to Colton’s quick-thinking actions he managed to put it out. I’m so glad he has recovered.
Please share this important warning with as many people as you can today.
