Gaming Mouse Fire: User's Apartment Nearly Burned Down

Imagine the shock of finding your gaming mouse on fire while your PC is in sleep mode. This is exactly what happened to Reddit user lommelinn, who narrowly avoided a disaster when their Gigabyte M6880X mouse burst into flames, nearly burning down their apartment. The incident occurred early one morning when the user smelled smoke and rushed into their room to find the mouse engulfed in flames, filling the room with black smoke. Despite quickly extinguishing the fire, the room and a modular synthesizer were left covered in soot.

The Gigabyte M6880X is an older wired optical mouse, powered via a USB 2.0 connection that typically draws just 5V at 0.5A. Given these specs, the catastrophic failure that led to the fire is quite puzzling. Images shared by lommelinn show the mouse's top rear panel completely melted, while the underside remained largely undamaged. The reason for this selective damage remains a mystery. Additionally, the photos revealed damage to the user's desk and mousepad, which had melted in the heat.

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

In response, Gigabyte issued a statement on the Reddit thread, acknowledging the incident and emphasizing their commitment to customer safety. They confirmed that an investigation was underway and that they had reached out to lommelinn to offer support and further investigate the issue.

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 incident, noting that their PC was in sleep mode at the time. They also mentioned checking the USB port with a voltage meter, which showed no issues, leaving them with no explanation for how the fire could have started.