laptop blamed

Charging laptop may be to blame for Lakeview blaze

January 24, 2007
FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS
A new laptop that was charging may be to blame for a fire inside a Lakeview apartment with no working smoke detectors early Wednesday.

A couch caught fire in the 500 block of West Briar Place in the back of the top floor of a five-story, brick apartment building that is of a “considerable size,” according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.

Two young men visiting the country, possibly from India, had been charging a new laptop computer -- about 2 or 3 days old -- near the couch. The Office of Fire Investigations believes the computer, or its battery, may have overheated and caught fire, Langford said.

The two men did not smoke and there were no other apparent sources of heat. The laptop was plugged into a power strip that was plugged into a wall, Langford said.

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Too bad they didn't have one of MY power strips.