Fidget spinners are one of the biggest trends among kids and adults everywhere, partly because they can help with ADHD, though different groups have warned of their dangers for months now. A recent incident seems to confirm and expand those concerns, as one woman discovered her fidget spinner on fire on her kitchen counter.
Michelle Carr of Fenton, Michigan says she enjoys playing with her fidget spinner because it helps her cope with her smoking habit. This particular fidget spinner was Bluetooth enabled, played music and lit up.
“I guess as a smoker, you don’t smoke as much,” Carr told Fox 66 News. “If they’re in your hands, you’re fidgeting with them, you don’t smoke,” she added.
Carr says she was charging her Bluetooth fidget spinner when it caught fire after being plugged in for less than 30 minutes.
“It’s the same cord I use for my baby monitor and I just simply had it plugged in like this and it was laying right here on fire,” she said.
Carr said she doesn’t think she will be buying fidget spinners again and wants people to be aware of what happened to help them avoid a similar fiery display.
“I personally won’t buy another one because of the fear of it,” she said. “But I know there are tons of kids who want to go get them, but if you plug them in, just stay by and make sure it’s charged and it doesn’t catch.”
According to Carr, the fidget spinner didn’t come with any instructions or its own charger.
Although her baby monitor uses the same cord for charging, there’s a possibility the power to charge her baby monitor was too strong for the simple electronics in the fidget spinner, or the Bluetooth fidget spinner was defective.
This isn’t the first time a Bluetooth fidget spinner has been in the news for catching fire.
In Glendale Alabama, a fidget spinner exploded after it was charging for less than 45 minutes, according to Fox 6 News.
In a statement to Gizmodo, the Consumer Product Safety Commission advises people to stay close by and monitor devices that have charging batteries.
“Never charge a product with batteries overnight while you are sleeping. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and use the charger from the manufacturer that is designed specifically for your device,” they caution.
