Samsung Store Catches Fire, Cause Unknown

Image courtesy of Eric Hauser

As if Samsung hasn’t had enough problems involving explosions or fires when it comes to its devices: A fire began in the backroom of one of the company’s retail stores in Singapore early today. 

Channel News Asia reports that the fire started around 1:25 a.m. local time and was quickly extinguished by installed fire sprinklers.

“We are currently assessing the property damage and working closely with the authorities to determine the cause of the fire,” the company said in a statement. “The store will remain temporarily closed during this period. We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused.”

Several neighboring stores were also temporarily closed following the fire.

While an investigation into the fire is ongoing, Singapore Civil Defense Force tells Channel News Asia that the incident involved contents in the storeroom. The agency did not provide additional details on what the contents may have been.

Tuesday’s incident is just the latest fire or explosion issue for Samsung.

The company was on the receiving end on several reports of exploding or smoking smartphones last year, leading the tech giant to recall 1.9 million Galaxy Note 7 devices. Those issues were eventually linked “irregularly sized” batteries.

More recently, a factory in China that manufactures batteries for the Galaxy Note 7 caught fire. A spokesperson for Samsung said that the February fire was minor and did not affect production.

[via Business Insider]

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