Man Burned When Cell Phone Explodes

NEWTON, Mass. -- A Newton man said he was burned when his cell phone exploded and caught fire as he was walking his dog earlier this week.

“Suddenly the phone was on fire,” said Dan Lefman.

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The phone was the Envy, a popular model sold by Verizon Wireless.

“It caught fire and it burned my leg very badly. There's a hole in my khakis where it burned through,” he said.

While the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported rare cell phone explosions in 2005 caused by older defective or counterfeit batteries, Lefman had purchased this phone just a few months ago and it contained the original battery.

The Envy is Verizon Wireless' most popular model, but an incident like this has never been reported, according to company spokesman David Thomson.

"This is the very first time this has been brought to our attention. There is no need for panic," said Thomson.

The unit itself is charred and melted on the back panel -- the question is, what caused the explosion?

Verizon Wireless took the phone and will examine it to find out what went wrong. Lefman has been given a new phone by the company.