The big picture: Because of the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, there will always be a spotlight on alleged incidents of exploding Samsung phones. The latest involves a Florida man who burned his hand when his girlfriend's Galaxy S9 reportedly caught fire for no obvious reason.
ABC affiliate WFTS reports that Odessa resident Dave Warden III was cooking dinner when he looked over to see the newest Samsung handset bellowing out smoke as it lay on the kitchen counter. "There was popping, cracking, tingling," he said.
The smoke quickly led to "12-inch flames" shooting from the handset. Warden attempted to grab the phone from the counter and throw it in the sink, but he missed and the device landed on the floor, burning his hands in the process.
The S9 blazed away on the floor for so long that he managed to capture it on video using his own phone. Warden says the device had been on a plane just 24 hours earlier. He added that it was "lightly used" and not plugged in at the time of the fire. The couple said they had been using a standard Samsung charger.
Samsung emphases that it has seen no similar issues with other Galaxy S9 handsets. In response to the incident, it says Warden should not have thrown the handset away. "Maybe we could have done something proactive with that phone that I discarded but that's not going through your head after you watch a device just burn up on the floor. We just wanted it out of our house. We were done with it," he said.
Additionally, the Korean company said it was a mistake to buy a handset from an unauthorized third-party online reseller, but Warden disputes this excuse. "You trust the product. You are not trusting the company you purchased it from. You are trusting the product and quite frankly it failed," he said.
Last month, a Detroit woman claimed that either a Galaxy S4 or Galaxy S8 caught fire while in the cupholder of her car. The resulting flames eventually destroyed her vehicle.
Samsung said it is refunding Warden the cost of the phone and looking into the incident. The company has released the following statement.
Samsung takes customer safety very seriously and we stand behind the quality of the millions of Galaxy devices in use in the United States. We have not received any reports of similar incidents involving a Galaxy S9 device and we have reached out to Mr. Warden to learn more about the specifics behind this experience and to resolve the matter. We are aware that this device was purchased through a non-authorized third-party and we encourage consumers to always purchase Samsung products from one of our authorized retailers or carriers to ensure the product continues to meet Samsung's high quality and safety standards. Until Samsung is able to thoroughly examine any unit, it is impossible to determine the true cause of an incident. Mobile phones are complex products and there are many factors that could contribute to their malfunction. Any customer who has questions about a Samsung product should contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG.