It was about 10:30 PM. Rachel was in the kitchen, and was about to take her dogs for a walk. Her laptop was left charging on a hard table. Suddenly, Rachel heard a loud cackle, and as soon as she heard the sound, she immediately fled into the garden with her dogs. As it turns out, the sound came from the laptop, and as Rachel fled into the garden, she heard the laptop make a sound once again, and saw it catch fire, which immediately spread on the table.
Fortunately, no one was harmed during the accident, but Rachel learned a lesson that night: to not buy cheap electronics online.
"Luckily my two kids were staying at their grandmother's that night but if they'd been in the house at the time the fire would have between them and myself which is absolutely horrible to think about.
"I was told it was the battery of the laptop that was at fault. I'd bought the replacement battery from Amazon through a third-party seller after the original battery died."
Upon hearing this news, the safety charity Electrical Safety First was prompted to warn people about the dangers of buying electrical products online.
Many others are likely to make similar purchases in the run-up to Christmas, said Lesley Rudd, chief executive of Electrical Safety First.
"We would urge people purchasing electrical products to use the stores of websites of known manufacturers and retailers such as those found on the High Street, rather than resorting to third-party sellers on online marketplaces.
"Our investigations have found some extremely dangerous items for sale on these platforms and sub-standard or counterfeit products are often very difficult to spot to the untrained eye."
Stay safe!
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