Man's Pants Catch Fire At Airport

POSTED: 5:04 pm EDT October 4, 2007

UPDATED: 6:53 pm EDT October 4, 2007

ATLANTA -- The new iPod Nano is hot. But one Douglasville man said his old Nano got even hotter -- hot enough to burst into flames.

“So I look down and I see flames coming up to my chest,” said Danny Williams.

Williams said the burn hole from the pocket of his pants marks the spot of his 15 seconds of flame. He said he had an iPod Nano and an glossy piece of paper in his pocket. He believes the paper shielded him from being burned.

“I’m still kind of freaked out that after only a year and a half my iPod caught fire in my pocket,” said Williams.

The iPod uses a lithium ion battery -- the same type of battery under recall for setting laptops on fire.

Williams said the fact is iPod Nano burst into flames while he was at work was bad enough, where he works could have been another issue. He works at a kiosk in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“If TSA had come by and seen me smoking, they could have honestly thought I was a terrorist,” said Williams.

Williams said Apple wants him to send his iPod back and they’ve vowed to replace it. Williams’ mother called Channel 2 because she said this is more than one iPod. She said it’s about what could have happened.

“It could have happened when we were sleeping, it could have happened when he was driving and the outcome could have been much worse,” said Elaine Williams.

After Channel 2 sent Apple pictures of the iPod, they called back but they refused to say how common the problem is. In fact, Apple refused to talk about this particular incident at all.