A medical student in the UK has suffered serious burns after her EE power bar exploded.
Katy Emslie was sleeping in her bedroom when her power bar exploded in the middle of the night.
According to a report by BBC’s newsbeat, the 26-year-old woke to “smoky soot in the air” and a “firework noise” at 1am last Friday.
The EE power bar was reportedly plugged into Emslie’s laptop to charge overnight.
Emslie’s bedroom (Image credit: BBC)
“The yellow wire was still on my desk, but I looked down and there were flames underneath my bed, so I grabbed my bed and lifted it up,” explains Emslie.
She continues: “I was screaming for my mum to come through at this point and trying to get the flames out with my hands. I panicked because there was actual flames as opposed to embers. I was terrified because I thought it was going to either burn through the floor or catch fire onto the bed.”
The Power Bar, post-explosion (Image credit: BBC)
Emslie’s mother eventually put the flames out using a wet towel, but there were “still bits of power bar” behind the bed when the pair checked the next day.
“My hands smelt of firework, my clothes smelt of firework, my hair smelt of firework,” says the British student. “My pillow has black soot on it, so it obviously went past my pillow and missed my head by about six inches. It could have landed on my bed and I might not even be here.”
Related: How does the EE power bar service work?
The burns (Image credit: BBC)
As a result of the incident, Emslie has “severe” burns to her hands, which are having to be redressed regularly.
Doctors decided to “deroof” Emslie’s hand, which means the blisters were opened up, the dead skin was cut away, and the fluid was drained.
The EE power bars are available to any EE, Orange, or T-Mobile customer for free, giving users a way to charge their phones on the move.
The EE Power Bar
We asked EE for comment, and this was the company’s response:
“We’re sorry to hear about Ms. Emslie’s experience. All of our products undergo stringent safety tests. This is an isolated incident and we’re in contact with the customer to investigate the cause of this issue as a matter of urgency.”
Have you had any issues with an EE power bar? Let us know in the comments.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
