Dell laptop linked to house fire

Adam Turner
Sunday, 11 February 2007 14:25

Your IT - Home IT

A faulty Dell laptop is the suspected cause of a fire which destroyed a family home in Biddeford, Maine.

No one was home when the 130-year-old former farm house was guttered by fire last Monday, with the owner claiming fire investigators found a Dell notebook caused the blaze, reports The Consumerist.

Investigators determined the owner's Dell Inspiron 1200 started the blaze shortly after he left for work, leaving the laptop in sleep mode with the lid closed on the edge of the sofa in the living room. The fire quickly spread from the living room to the dining room and then up a stairwell to the bedrooms. Over 60 firefighters fought the blaze in the near zero degree temperatures, with the house suffering extensive fire, smoke, or water damage.

"After investigation the fire Marshall investigator took me aside asked me if I had a laptop computer. Yes -- I told him I had a Dell Inspiron 1200," said the owner - quoted only as "Dan".

"It was determined that the laptop, battery, or cord malfunctioned around 15 minutes after I left for work."
 
The incident is the most recent in a spate of laptop fires, which lead to Dell recalling a number of batteries and AC adapters over the last few years. The suspected notebook was not among those subject to recalls.