Fire service warns of dangers of charging electrical items ahead of festive season in South Yorkshire

Representatives from the fire service gave a presentation at a Sheffield Council’s safer and stronger communities scrutiny committee meeting.

In the meeting, councillor Karen McGowan said: “I am constantly having a go at my daughter for finding her mobile phone under her pillow and thinking about the heat and it’s charging up. It really worries me.”

Chris Kirby, of SYFR, said: “We have a dedicated electrical safety week that we support and we try to raise the profile of fires that occurred.

“It is rare mobile phones will set on fire but where you have got, certainly, laptops that are being charged – there is a vent under laptops and if you are just sitting on a bed or a couch and the laptop is not on a firm surface that can really start to overheat the battery units.

“We had other notable campaigns around, for example, when there was an explosion of hoverboards for Christmas gifts with large batteries in them.

“Loads of kids wanted hoverboards and there were some notable incidents because if the charging units are not compatible with the hoverboard then it’s going to overheat.

“We always advise you use the charging device that came with the product that you are using and use products that have Kitemark and are certified – those are the kinds of things. And don’t leave things charging overnight and out of sight.”

Online, SYFR also warn not to charge devices longer than the recommended time.