Man's Cell Phone Apparently Sets Him Ablaze

Vallejo - A cell phone apparently ignited in a man's pocket and started a fire that burned his hotel room and caused severe burns over half his body, fire department officials said. Luis Picaso, 59, was in stable condition Monday with second- and third-degree burns to his upper body, back, right arm and right leg, Vallejo Fire Department assistant chief Kurt Henke said.

Vallejo Fire Department spokesman Bill Tweedy said Monday that Saturday's incident involving a man who was seriously burned after his cell phone caught fire and ignited his clothing is not that unusual.

"There have been a couple other cases in California in the past few years," Tweedy said. "It's no different than any other fires involving mechanical or electrical items," Tweedy said.

A 16-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns when her cell phone in her back pocket caught fire, the Ontario, Calif., Fire Department reported in June 2004.

An incident in May 2004 in New Paltz, N.Y., lent credibility to the suspicion that a cell phone could ignite a fire at a gas pump. A 21-year-old student was filling up at the pump when his phone rang. When he answered it a large flash occurred at the nozzle and started a fire.

Thousands of counterfeit LG-branded cell phone batteries were recalled in June 2004 because they could overheat and pose a fire hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The 59-year-old resident of The Travelers Hotel on Georgia Street in Vallejo suffered second- and third-degree burns on half his body Saturday night when his cell phone caught fire and ignited his clothing and the plastic chair he was sitting in, the Vallejo Fire Department reported. A sprinkler confined the fire to the immediate area and firefighters found Luis Picaso on the floor of the bathroom.

Tweedy said Monday Picaso is in stable condition at the UC Davis Medical Center.

Written by Associated Press