A sports reporter from Los Angeles experienced a frightening incident earlier this month when her portable charger exploded as she slept. This unexpected explosion resulted in chemical burns on her arm, singed her hair, and left a hole in her bed.
“PSA to anybody that uses a portable charger: don’t,” Ashley Nevel said in a video she posted to her social media on Feb. 15. “Mine literally just exploded in my bed. Everything caught on fire. My mattress — burned a hole through it. I literally have nowhere to sleep.”
According to KCAL-TV, she credited an emergency fire blanket, which was a thoughtful housewarming gift from her father, with saving her life during the ordeal.
“Avoid using portable chargers,” she advised emphatically. “My apartment still reeks of smoke, and the toxic residue means I can’t stay there until it’s thoroughly cleaned. It’s a dire situation. So, ditch the portable chargers and always keep a fire blanket nearby—it truly saved me. I’m just relieved to be alive.”
After returning from the hospital, the reporter shared another distressing aspect of the event. “My phone was charging at the time of the explosion, and it overheated, making it impossible to call 911,” she explained.
Faced with this predicament, she had to rush to her balcony, frantically yelling for help and urging others to contact emergency services, all after being startled awake by the blast at 5 a.m.
She said she was forced to run out on her balcony and scream for others to call 911 — all after waking up to the explosion at 5 a.m.
“Thankfully my neighbors were like, amazing,” she said, adding that emergency responders arrived within three minutes.
File photo of a phone charger that exploded. (Getty)
“When you’re dealing with something like that, fight or flight kicks in,” she said. “You have no f—ing idea what to do.”
Later, she also suggested that banning portable chargers on airplanes altogether might be a good idea.
“What if I was on an airplane and that happened?” she questioned. “What do you do in that situation? Like, everyone is in danger with a small little charger and I never thought that was going to happen to me.”
Damaged lithium cells from phone chargers. (Getty)
She added that she’s been walking around with portable chargers for years.
“You never think something is going to happen to you, and I’m just more thankful it isn’t more serious than it could have been,” she continued. “Yeah, throw away your portable chargers.”
