Gaming Mouse Sparks Fire, Nearly Destroys Apartment

Imagine the shock of finding your gaming mouse engulfed in flames while your PC is in sleep mode. That's precisely what happened to Reddit user lommelinn, who shared a harrowing experience that nearly led to their apartment burning down. Early one morning, lommelinn was alerted by the smell of smoke, rushed into their room, and discovered their Gigabyte M6880X mouse ablaze, emitting large flames and filling the room with black smoke. Quick thinking allowed them to extinguish the fire, though not before inhaling a significant amount of smoke and leaving their room, including a modular synth, covered in black particles.

The Gigabyte M6880X is an older wired, optical mouse that operates on a standard 5V USB 2.0 connection with a current draw of 0.5A. This seemingly ordinary gaming mouse's catastrophic failure has sparked intrigue and concern across the gaming community. Photographs shared by lommelinn show the mouse's top rear panel completely melted, while the underside remained relatively undamaged. The specific reasons behind the top casing's isolated damage remain a mystery, as does the extent of the damage to the desk and mousepad, which were also affected.

My Gigabyte mouse caught fire and almost burned down my apartment

byu/lommelinn inpcmasterrace

In response to lommelinn's alarming report, Gigabyte promptly issued a statement on Reddit, confirming their awareness of the incident and their commitment to customer safety. They stated:

Hi Everyone,

We have been made aware of the incident shared by lommelin regarding the M6880X gaming mice. Our customer's safety is our top priority and we are actively looking into this case. Our team has reached out to lommelin to offer support and to investigate the matter fully. In the meantime, we appreciate the community’s understanding and patience as we work to address this issue.

Best,

The GIGABYTE Team.

In a follow-up post, lommelinn expressed their disbelief at the unexpected incident, noting that their PC was in sleep mode at the time. They also mentioned checking the USB port with a voltage meter and finding it to be functioning normally, leaving them puzzled about how such an event could occur.