A Samsung Galaxy S4 reportedly caught on fire while a 13-year-old girl was sleeping.
The girl in North Texas had placed the phone under her pillow, and was woken up by the smoldering phone.
The father of the teenager believes that the phone battery may have caused the meltdown--Samsung says the battery was a replacement unit, and that users should be careful using the replacements instead of the official batteries. It also says that users should be careful about covering devices with materials such as bedding.
The story was covered by Fox 4 News in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The story became so popular that it’s generated over 4 million pageviews on the station’s website and more than 1 million views on the station’s YouTube account.
It has also generated more pageviews for other Fox affiliates that posted the story.
“The story is easy to relate to and pulls on those ‘holy grail’ elements that news consumers love- ‘Your Children, Your Safety, Your Stuff,’” reporter Steve Noviello told Poynter.
Asked why he believes the story is real, he said: “We did another story some time back about lithium ion batteries and I have had hundreds of e-mails from people who tell me their batteries get hot. It has included everything from phones to e-cigarettes and baby monitors.”
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