Did Apple cover up Fire Hazards ?

An investigation by Seattle television station, KIRO 7, has revealed that an “alarming” number of iPod’s have (allegedly) been bursting into flames and injuring people – and that Apple has apparently been trying to cover up the story.

Scary.

“It took more than 7-months for KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy to get her hands on documents concerning Apple’s iPods from the Consumer Product Safety Commission because Apple’s lawyers filed exemption after exemption. In the end, the CPSC released more than 800 pages which reveal, for the very first time, a comprehensive look that shows, on a number of occasions, iPods have suddenly burst into flames, started to smoke, and even burned their owners.”

One woman was burned on the chest while running when her iPod Shuffle, which was clipped to her shirt, overheated. The woman reportedly contacted Apple and was told her burn was “an isolated incident.” This is not, as KIRO 7 discovered, exactly true.

Simply by going online, the station found “plenty” of complaints about iPods overheating.

Also, this month in Japan, a warning was issued regarding certain iPod Nano models, after several, overheated and sparked. The report cites a total of 19 related accidents.

When KIRO’s Clancy finally received the reports they revealed 15 burn and fire-related incidents blamed by iPod owners on their iPods. After one child was burned, her mother complained and was reportedly told by Apple that they knew nothing of any danger, but the records are said to show otherwise.

“The complaints concern various iPod models, some charging at the time, some not. Some were older models, some brand new.”

My house, like many, is very reliant on the iPod. I can barely remember life without it. Now I have to worry about it bursting into flames? This does not make me happy.

To put things into perspective, there are over 175 million sold and only a handful are (allegedly) catching fire, but still, one is too many.

A “fire scientist” told KIRO that the iPods’ lithium ion batteries could be the source of the problem. “Millions of lithium ion batteries were recalled by Dell and Apple in 2006 because over-heating problems in laptop computers caused fires.”

This is a hazard in all iPods:

iPod Touch 1st and 2nd gen

iPod Classic

iPod Nano

iPod Shuffle

So, far, iPods are not being recalled.