An exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone has reportedly totaled the Jeep Grand Cherokee of a family in St. Petersburg, just days after Samsung issued a worldwide recall for its hottest new smartphone.
Owner Nathan Dornacher said that he and his wife went to a yard sale over Labor Day weekend. While unloading a desk they’d bought for their daughter, Nathan left his new Note 7 to charge in his vehicle.
When they asked their 8-year-old daughter to get back into the vehicle so the family could go and run some errands, the family dog alerted Mr. Dornacher to the fact something was wrong. When he looked, he saw that the Jeep Grand Cherokee was on fire.
In a statement to FOX 13 News, a Samsung representative confirmed that it is aware of the incident and is doing everything it can for Mr. Dornacher.
“Consumer safety is Samsung’s highest priority,” the spokesperson said. “With regard to the Galaxy Note7, we are asking owners to take advantage of the Product Exchange Program announced on Friday of last week. The program offers Note 7 owners the opportunity to exchange the phone for a new one.”
Initial feedback to the Note 7 was strong when it was recently launched. However it didn’t take long for reports that some Galaxy Note 7 handsets were randomly exploding while on charge. Samsung claims just 24 in every 1 million units is at risk of exploding, but issued a total global recall all the same.
With yesterday’s announcement of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the recall couldn’t have come at a worse time for Samsung — although stories like this one show why it was absolutely the only move Samsung could have made. Total costs for Samsung for the recall are likely to cost in the vicinity of $1 billion.
Fortunately no-one has yet been injured.
Source: Fox10Phoenix
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
95 responses to “Exploding Galaxy Note 7 wipes out family’s Jeep”
They lied, how did they know its 24 units?
dude… now it’s 25
That’s how they knew…
They counted the incidents.
Actually, this makes it 36 or 37 incidents. The article said it happens to 24 in every one million units.
It’s called statistical analysis. It works, for things like this. For “hot button” social issues, less so.
Oh shit!
I don’t fully believe this because it’s being reported from Fox news. Lmao!!
True lol! Though this JEEP owner probably knew that the phone can be a good bomb and DELIBRATLY caused it to burnup and get a knew car paid by SAMSUNG! Great! new car for all NOTE 7 owner! I gotta buy 1 too
a new car for under 1000 bucks? that’s profit!
The phones don’t actually blow up, all the stories of phones “exploding” are taking a very liberal definition of the word. The chance of it being able to set a car on fire are INCREDIBLY slim (everything in the interior of cars is fire retardant, after all), and the chance of this guy being alerted by his DOG are even slimmer!
Somebody involved in this story is clearly lying.
“The phones don’t actually blow up”
Yeah, it’s not a “bug”, it’s a “feature”.
The Note 7 is supposed to be a combination cell phone and camp fire. Samsung is planning on giving away a free bag of marshmallows (with a “Marshmallow” Android sticker on the bag) with every Note 7.
What the hell are you talking about? Has any part of your rambling bullshit got anything to do with whether or not they ACTUALLY blow up, or are you just taking this opportunity to crap on another phone company as some kind of coping mechanism because your beloved Apple can’t even manage to design a phone with a headphone jack?
My iPhone has a headphone jack, as have the last 4 iPhone’s I’ve had. You’re not doing well with facts today.
Do you understand the difference between the past and the present? Because just so you know, previous iPhones were designed before the current one.
Your quote, “Apple can’t even manage to design a phone with a headphone jack” doesn’t distinguish between past and present, and negates the fact that designing the new iPhone 7 without the *analog* headphone jack is, ironically enough, the future.
“Can’t” is present tense, sorry to break it to you. I like that you highlight the fact that it is analog, just repeating the marketing excuses your messiah has fed to you. Little fact you might not be aware of: your ears cannot hear digital sound, it’s going to have to be converted to analog anyway.
Apparently most people have forgotten about iPhones batteries overheating and catching fire in the not so long ago past. It even happened during a commercial airline flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing. Google it if you don’t believe me.
Major difference. That was an isolated issue, not a product-wide manufacturing flaw.
Not really. Several iPhones as well as some iPad have “exploded” over the years. Almost as many over time as the N7. The difference is that Sammy has acted proactively and conclusively to nip the issue in the bud across the board and not take any chances. Even though there is only a very small percentage of the gross number of devices out there that have had this happen.
I know what you’re talking about, but those incidents were all traced back to cheap 3rd party cables/chargers, not the iPhone itself.
Not all. Quite a few of them the iPhone wasn’t charging at all and was in somebody’s pocket. Like in the case of the 8th grader with the 5c
Clearly? Clearly lying? Who is lying? How do you know it didn’t blow up? How do you know his dog didn’t bark? That’s right, you don’t.
There is one thing thing clear. It’s clear that the recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 started his car on fire. Don’t try and defend the indefensible.
I know that batteries don’t blow up because I have a basic understanding of chemistry. I know that batteries don’t blow up because I have seen battery issue for years and they have never blown up. Simply, I know it didn’t blow up because I am not stupid.
There is a photo of a woman with burns from battery gel that exlploded on her. Blow up or exploded it did one of the two. Don’t get too deep in semantics.
You’re so full of crap.
The phone is waterproof. Pressure from the battery builds up inside and, because it’s so watertight, that ends up being a lot more pressure than normal. It then proceeds to blow up your jeep.
The facts argue with your “basic understanding”. Google “can lithium batteries explode” to better educate yourself before arguing with someone so strenuously.
You should probably read articles before posting using them as evidence. They had to heat those batteries to over 250°C and bombard them with X-rays to get them to explode. Do you think many people walk around with a gas stove and a particle collider?
I know someone who’s jeep caught on fire (whole droving it) due to an electrical fault that is appearently not unusual for jeeps. That thing was fully engulfed in under 90 seconds. I assure you that they are not flame retardant.
Generally, you are correct. Batteries USUALLY burn at a fast rate when they fail, and I’d assume that most of these Note7s aren’t actually exploding. But to say that batteries don’t ever explode is flat out wrong. Furthermore, yes car manufactures do their best, but you have no idea what else was in the car, or where the phone was sitting, or how long it was burning before the car ignited. To say “clearly lying” is a stretch.
Samsung: The Next Big Bang Is Here.
And it still beats the rotten apple
in killing people…
I don’t remember anything about samsung phones killing anyone . But I do remember reports from 2010 or 2011 saying that an apple iPhone did .
You mean the one where someone was charging with a China charger and taking a bath while using the phone :)
A man died in a house fire that was started from an iPhone 5.
Maybe, but 1 out of 800 million is not the same as 70 out of 1 million Note 7!
I like Samsung but that’s hilarious!
dude probably couldn’t afford the payment on his car so he thought he would cash it out for insurance money. No way the phone blows up after only being plugged in for a short time. This seems fishy, just like the dude who burnt his garage down because he left him Note 7 Charging in there while he was not home. Both these stories seem shady.
lmao thanks nancy drew
This is the 2nd case of people trying to use the Note 7 for insurance fraud. the first one involved a guy burning down his garage.
Really, you know this is a case of insurance fraud?
As surely as he knows that words should be capitalized at the beginning of sentances. Oh, wait. My bad. He doesn’t.
Pretty sure only one of his sentences has that mistake in it of the 4 he typed…
EDIT: And his second post has that mistake too. So clearly they are typos, not a lack of grammar skills.
Scam artists
That’s the same thing I’m thinking. Seems like people are now taking advantage of the recall to make a profit
Um, there are drastically easier and safer ways to “scam” or “make a profit” than torching your family vehicle.
not unless he hated the car….
Someone should torch you and feed you to the cannibals of Timbuktu
This is exactly what I thought when I saw this. Despite the incredible media coverage and sensationalist journalism over the battery recall, so only people living under a rock wouldn’t know about it, two idiots still think leaving their phone unattended and charging is a good idea – let alone just turning it off and using a temporary phone.
In both cases, there’s a garage which is surprisingly barren with nothing of real value inside and this ancient Jeep (which the ‘victim’ claims he’d done lots of upgrades to) – both worth a lot more when reported to the press and insurance pays out new-for-old…. Hmmm.
97-100 degree weather, hotter inside the car, left charging after recall warnings… not the phone’s fault this person is a straight idiot.
Really? You just leave a phone in the car and it blows up taking the car aloong with it and it’s not the phone’s fault?
Is he…not supposed to charge his phone? What nonsense.
Actually, it is the phone’s, and Samsung’s, fault. You think that the recall notice has successfully reached every, single Galaxy Note 7 owner?
all the providers sent out a text message, plus i am sure he knew about it too. my dead grandmother told me she knew about it too
These things have thermal sensors to prevent overheating. They stop charging if they are too hot.
At least that’s how they are supposed to work.
Appearently that doesn’t work in this case
IDK, you wanna to be safe, just follow the recall .. don’t blame *samsung* they did what they can do.
So what can I do after knowing this recall warning? Put it in the fridge?
The owners of the jeep needs to be locked up for fraud. The whole family is lying. Trying to get a new jeep for free . Huh .
You’re that person who thinks everyone is lying until it happens to you. Then you want sympathy.
I’m the type of person who don’t believe everything someone says . I trust my own intuition. And if I feel that I am being told bs . Then thats what I’m going to stick to until facts are proven.
Nailed it, Columbo.
The problem has to do with the fast charging and the battery does not explode, it expands. Not one that I have read about, blew apart. And to leave it plugged in on a hot day, that is just a double whammy.
Are we only meant to plug it in on cold days? I always leave my phone plugged in when it’s low on battery because that’s what you’re supposed to do. Too many people are acting like it’s ludicrous to charge a cell phone.
You are missing the main point. The chance of the note 7 starting a car fire is slim to none existent. The phone doesn’t even explode. The battery overheats, expands which forces the phone apart. It doesn’t explode and it’s not going to cause a car or garage to burn down. I bet if they did a myth buster on this it will prove the chance of this setting a car on fire is near none existent.
Then why are they recalling every, single one?
For safety, as it gets hot enough to harm you, a hot glue gun will also burn you but it’s not going to easily start a fire.
Have you looked at some of the photos of the phones that failed? I agree, that they aren’t actually “exploding,” But some are defenately burning. Sitting on a table it’s probable not going to start a fire, but under some circumstances it easily could.
Again, this author misrepresents Samsung’s voluntary trade-in program for a “recall”. This is NOT a recall. Samsung *should* be doing a recall, but they are leaving the choice whether to continue to use a known dangerous device to consumers who may not even be aware that there is a voluntary replacement program.
What’s it going to take? Do we have to wait for a whole hotel to burn down killing multiple people before action is taken? Would it have happened if the family had been driving down the Interstate and killed several people when their little bomb exploded?
Can’t wait to see the lawsuit that comes from the lack of a real recall program. Because I’m quite confident that it’s coming.
Recalls don’t work any better and are not mandatory. There is no way to force people to turn in their phones short of going to their homes and stealing them.
Verizon and the other big companies sent out a text message to all note 7 owners. He knew about it, put took a chance that it won’t happen to him.
All of these people using the recall to commit insurance fraud . I hope they get caught
I hope they learn there are no spaces before periods.
I hope someone pulls you up on a typo..
All? You know this how?
Fraudulent claim. Famewhuring for their 15 minutes of insurance money. Samsung deserves all of this as Millions and Millions of people will buy the iPhone 7 tomorrow. I hope i$i$ terroristas target this family, lying sack of Lagroids.
Yes, the easiest and safest method of making a little extra cash these days is setting fire to your family SUV. Fabulous deduction, Matlock.
Thats McGuyver to you, Cüntface!
Would have been a Much Better article if both their Daughter and Dog was set on fire too! I say Blow up the entire AMURRIKA with this phone!
Shut ur troll mouth dirt boy
I see the morons are out today. And it is not even Friday.
wonder if the iphone 7/7plus
have bendgate 2.0 (the same as the original bendgate)
and also some explosive problems?
In your dreams, iPhone hater.
Definitely the hottest cell phone on the market right now! I wonder if the Jeep owner wil replace it with the same phone, or switch to another manufacturers Android, or god forbid iPhone…
its the guys own fault. He knew about the recall and still kept the phone, and the car had to be on accessory to begin with. just looking for a payday.
I have the phone and plan on keeping it until I get a new one. Besides the battery, this phone is the best on the market! They have only issued hundreds of warnings and told ppl to not charge their devices with after market charges or anywhere that wouldn’t be safe if it did over heat. Who the hell would leave it in a hot ass car charging in this hot ass state? Come on people….
Millions of people charge their phones in a hot car and have no problems. There’s a reason why Samsung is recalling the Note 7’s. They rushed it to market to beat the iPhone announcement and it backfired. Unfortunately, it’s a double whammy because the new iPhones leapfrogged the Note 7 in performance, battery life and camera technology… The 3 things most users care about most.
Camera technology? Now I’m not so sure about that one. I’ve seen the camera comparisons, in most shots the Note 7 has better dynamic range and cleaner colors. Seems like Apple has taken the older Samsung camera approach. I prefer the more natural appearance of my 6S and the Note 7.
I think what you’re seeing is the wider color gamut at work which shows more colors and reveals additional details. It’s definitely not cranking up the contrast like Samsung’s traditional approach. That said, color is subjective and for most people I think that’ll be a negligible difference.
One thing that stands out, however, is the dual lens system on the 7 Plus… it will blow away single lens phones, like the 6s and Note 7, for optical zoom. Furthermore, with software updates, the iPhone 7 will be able to do things those phones will never be able to do, like real time depth of field, and many speculate that that’s just the beginning.
So for that reason alone, I don’t think there’s any doubt that the iPhone 7 Plus’s camera is a huge leap over the Note 7’s.
Thatswhat you get for not using the recommended samsung charger
i think they lied, if u away from ur car, how the phone gonna recharge without the car engine or key is on
“Just” 24 out every million. Grrr. That’s far too many! People could lose their homes and their lives!
LG G5.
Every year these misfeatures get more invasive…
This is a fake story and the journalist posting should have done his homework. The cigarette lighter port does not work on this vehicle when the ignition is turned to the off position. Also many many things do not add up in this story. Lifting the hood does not show how you bore the motor out, and he says he did a lot of modifications but had stock tires and rims??? Why would he use the car to charge when he is at home??? Also EVERY SAMSUNG tells you to unplug the charger when it gets to 100% or tempature gets too hot. SAMSUNG HAS BUILT IN TEMPATURE CUT OFF THAT PREVENTS PHONE FROM CHARGING. EVEN ON S6 standard it does this. THIS IS A HUGE SCAM BY APPLE TO PREVENT A MUCH BETTER DEVICE FROM STEALING THERE SALES. I am a mechanic, tech nerd and blessed by God with His wisdom. Waterproof with ability to use stylus underwater, CHECKMATE!! Apples only hope is to get enough friends and relativs to have INCIDENTS forcing a recall to prevent further exploding sales
Wow, you have to resort to strawmanning me? Where exactly did I say they CAN NOT explode? Just fucking give up, there’s no point lying to save face I doubt anyone really cares.
You talk about how you’ve presented facts and I refuse to accept I’m wrong, but the problem here seems to be you don’t apparently know what a relevant fact is. Either that or you’re too stupid to understand basic English.
Apologies for the misquote. Here’s what you actually posted: “Karl Mark Anderson
6 days ago
I know that batteries don’t blow up because I have a basic understanding of chemistry.”
“Can not” vs “do not” . Pretty poor use of semantics in order to obfuscate imo. You should really read your own BS before making such a poor attempt at impuning someone’s integrity. I did not lie, I merely misquoted. And the end result is excruciatingly obvious as to the consistency of my statement. Now please gfy and leave those of us with a modicum of common sense alone. Don’t bother replying, your credibility has been destroyed. By your own hand I might add lol.
Lol, trying to make me not reply because you know how wrong you are, that’s amazing. Batteries don’t blow up, that’s just how it is. Yes they CAN blow up, if they are damaged or heated or similar, but that is clearly not what we are talking about.
It’s pretty funny that you can’t find a single example to prove me wrong. All you can do is go from “they can force it to happen in a lab” to “phones are spontaneously exploding in real life!” And somehow you think this destroys MY credibility. I think you’re not living in the same reality as everyone else.