ORLANDO, Fla. — For many, cellphones are the last thing they look at before going to sleep, but one woman told Channel 9 her son's phone could have cost him his life.
Sara Carpio said her son's cellphone caught fire on his nightstand, where he was charging it before going to bed.
"This happened two nights ago in my son's room. I guess it was like around 12:30 p.m. when I heard him scream and he called me and said something happened," Carpio said.
Raw: Woman describes phone catching fire
She said the battery in her son's Samsung Galaxy S4 had exploded. Her son was sleeping when a noise woke him up. He said there was a fire, so he threw water on it to extinguish the flames.
"He was really scared," Carpio said. "(I was) just trying to calm him down. He said, 'Mom, it was on fire. I did this, I put water, I heard the explosion.'"
The phone was badly damaged, and a movie ticket sitting on the nightstand showed signs of being singed.
A spokesperson for Samsung sent Channel 9 a statement that reads in part, "We sincerely regret the experience that Mrs. Carpio had. We are working hard to determine what happened."
In June 2014, ABC News reported on the dangers of lithium ion batteries, which can get extremely hot and in some cases explode.
A Texas teen fell asleep with a smartphone under her pillow when it caught fire. The phone melted and was destroyed.
Carpio said when she called Samsung to complain, a manager offered to replace the phone.