The other day we reported (in that quasi-news mashup thing I did) that there was a cell phone fire in California that nearly burned a man to death and caused about $75,000 in damage. Well it turns out that the news source wasn’t lying … they just didn’t have the whole truth. The fire department has now backed off the theory that the cell phone actually caused the fire, since hrm… someone actually tested the stupid thing before they opened their mouths. Note this isn’t a bashing of anyone in particualr or the news source … I just really wish news sources wouldn’t place blame too early, and in this case waaaayyyy to early since the phone still worked just fine!!!

“A cell phone can’t create a spark,” Keith Nowak of Nokia said Thursday. “The most likely way a spark can happen is from a short in a battery, and if that happened, the phone wouldn’t work anymore.”

Well DUH!

Anyway, long story short – they tested the phone (under the watchful eye of the fire investigator) for you conspiracy folks, and it worked fine. Turns our cell phone fires are fairly common – according to the article 100 phones have caught fire between 2002 and 2004 – pretty decent considering the say there’s 200 million in use. #1 culprit? After-Market batteries.

Read the rest HERE …