Gaming Mouse Fire: Apartment Almost Burned Down

Imagine the shock of finding your gaming mouse on fire while your PC is in sleep mode. That's exactly what happened to Reddit user lommelinn, who narrowly avoided a potential disaster when their Gigabyte M6880X mouse caught fire, nearly burning down their apartment. The incident occurred early in the morning, with the user rushing into their room upon smelling smoke to find their desk engulfed in flames and black smoke filling the air. They managed to extinguish the fire, but not before inhaling a significant amount of smoke and leaving their room, including their modular synth, covered in soot.

The Gigabyte M6880X, a seemingly standard wired optical mouse that operates on USB 2.0 with a power draw of 5V at 0.5A, was the culprit. Photos shared by lommelinn showed the top rear panel of the mouse completely melted, while the underside remained relatively unscathed. The cause of this selective damage remains a mystery, as does the reason behind the fire itself. The user's desk and mousepad also suffered damage, with visible melted sections.

My Gigabyte mouse caught fire and almost burned down my apartment
byu/lommelinn inpcmasterrace

In response to the incident, Gigabyte issued a statement on Reddit, confirming they were aware of the situation and had initiated an investigation. They emphasized their commitment to customer safety and had already reached out to lommelinn for support and further investigation. The company asked for patience and understanding from the community as they worked to resolve the issue.

In a follow-up post, lommelinn expressed their disbelief at the unexpected event, noting that their PC was in sleep mode at the time of the fire. They also mentioned checking the USB port with a voltage meter and finding no issues, leaving them puzzled about the cause of the fire.