Japan warns of iPod fire hazard

Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has warned iPod users to be wary of overheating iPods after two new reports of minor fires in August in Tokyo caused by overheating iPod nanos.

Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has warned iPod users to be wary of overheating iPods after two new reports of minor fires in August in Tokyo caused by overheating iPod nanos.

According to the Ministry, Apple has been notified of a total of 14 similar cases in Japan. Two of the fires resulted in users suffering minor burns.

The fires appear to have been sparked by overheating batteries on the devices.

The Ministry has pinpointed problems with four models iPod nano models – MA004J/A, MA005J/A, MA099J/A and MA107J/A. It has been reported that 1.81 million units were sold between September 2005 and September 2006 in Japan.

“Users need to be careful about overheating of the machines,” the Ministry said in a statement. It wanted that particular care is needed when recharging the iPods.

“Our Ministry told Apple to improve its technological development and probe the cause of the incidents so that similar incidents do not happen again,” a Ministry official said.

Apple is yet to comment on the warning.

Two years ago, Apple and several other computer makers recalled millions of lithium ion laptop batteries amid reports that they could cause computers to overheat, and in rare cases, burst into flames.