Don't sleep with your phone! NYPD tweets pics of charred pillows to warn about dangers of charging your cell in bed

  • NYPD tweeted images of badly burned beds as a warning to phone users
  • Fire chiefs also caution that gadgets should be well ventilated while they are being charged
  • Placing a phone under your pillow can cause it to overheat and catch fire

The New York Police Department has cautioned people against sleeping with cell phones under their pillows with an alarming tweet showing bedspreads that have been set on fire.

Officers tweeted four pictures of pillows that have had holes burned in them after the cell phone underneath overheated and set light to them.

Fire chiefs have previously warned that sandwiching a charging phone between a pillow and a mattress can cause batteries to overheat and possibly catch fire or explode.

The NYPD shared these dramatic pictures of bed that caught light after people charged their phones under their pillows while warning residents not to do it

The NYPD shared these dramatic pictures of bed that caught light after people charged their phones under their pillows while warning residents not to do it

Fire crews around the U.S. have previously said that all electronics should be well ventilated while charging to avoid the risk of overheating the battery

Fire crews around the U.S. have previously said that all electronics should be well ventilated while charging to avoid the risk of overheating the battery

David Berardesca, fire chief from Hamden, Connecticut, told NBC: 'The cell phone was left on the bed. These devices need areas to be ventilated. 

'It is recommended that you leave these type of devices on a hard surface so the heat can dissipate. The batteries heat up, they could melt – in some cases, explode – and cause a fire.'

He was speaking after  a 15-year-old's bed burst into flames after a charging cell phone caught fire, leading to his home being evacuated at around 4am.

Meanwhile Ariel Tolfree, 13, from Texas, also escaped major burns after her bed set on fire because of a Samsung S4 phone she left charging underneath her pillow.

Tolfree's father, Thomas, said the phone was charging by her bed back in 2014 but likely slipped under the pillow before overheating.

The images were put out by the NYPD's 33rd Precinct along with a message which said: 'Don't put your cellphone under a pillow when sleeping or when charging your device'

The images were put out by the NYPD's 33rd Precinct along with a message which said: 'Don't put your cellphone under a pillow when sleeping or when charging your device'

Phone companies also warn users about the dangers of charging phones underneath pillows

Phone companies also warn users about the dangers of charging phones underneath pillows

He told Fox 4: 'The whole phone melted. The plastic, the glass. You can't even really tell that it was a phone.'

The image of Tolfree's bedspread was among the four pictures tweeted by the NYPD, with a spokesman saying the tweet wasn't related to a specific incident, but was a general safety warning.

At least two of the images appeared to come from the UK, with one being posted by father Dwayne Blanchard, from Leicester, in November last year.

Blanchard explained being woken up by his smoke alarm before discovering that son Brandon's bed was on fire after he left a cell phone under his pillow.

In another incident, 25-year-old Holly Hewett, from Kent, awoke to find her Samsung phone had begun sizzling while she slept.

After picking up the device it began sparking, and while taking it out of her bedroom the battery swelled up and melted through the plastic casing on the back, the Kent Messenger reports.

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