A New York man says he suffered third-degree burns after his iPhone 5C exploded in his front pocket.
"A couple people actually said they can actually smell my body burning," Erik Johnson told WABC.
WCBS 880 spoke with Johnson about the incident: "It didn't even, like, warm up. It just went straight to burn. And the only way I can get the phone away from me was to rip off my pants to get the phone out."
WABC reports Erik Johnson's metal iPhone case was "warped" and is now "stuck to the phone."
And Johnson's burns were so intense, he had to stay in a burn unit for more than a week.
"I just want my leg back to what it was, ya know?"
According to CNN, Johnson and his personal injury lawyer have sent Apple a letter and tried calling twice but have yet to hear back. But Apple told CNN it's looking into the case.
We've heard stories of cell phones sporadically exploding before. CNET highlighted a few incidents that reportedly happened in recent years.
So how do we make sure that burning pocket doesn't happen to us?
Digital Trends has some prevention tips: Don't overheat or over charge your phone — give it a break once in a while. If you don't, your battery could swell up and possibly combust.
Another tip is to use the company-provided charger for your specific phone, which Johnson said he uses. Problems have arisen in the past with people using unofficial phone chargers. He and his attorney are reportedly considering a lawsuit against Apple.
