Gaming Mouse Fire: User's Apartment Almost Destroyed

Imagine the shock of discovering your gaming mouse engulfed in flames on your desk while your PC is in sleep mode. This harrowing experience was faced by Reddit user lommelinn, whose Gigabyte M6880X mouse reportedly caught fire, nearly causing a disaster in their apartment. In a post on Reddit, lommelinn detailed the incident, stating, “I smelled smoke early this morning, so I rushed into my room and found my computer mouse burning with large flames. Black smoke filled the room. I quickly extinguished the fire, but exhaled a lot of smoke in the process and my room is in a bad shape now, covered with black particles (my modular synth as well). Fortunately, we avoided the worst, but the fact that this can happen is still shocking. It's an older wired, optical mouse from Gigabyte.”

The Gigabyte M6880X is an older model, a seemingly standard wired gaming mouse that operates via a USB 2.0 connection, drawing only 5V at 0.5A. The unexpected catastrophic failure of such a device has sparked widespread interest and concern. Photos shared by lommelinn reveal the extent of the damage, showing the top rear panel of the mouse completely melted, while the underside remained relatively unscathed. The reasons behind the selective damage to the mouse's top casing remain a mystery. Additionally, images show a portion of the desk and mousepad melted from the heat.

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

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }Gigabyte responded promptly to the incident on the Reddit thread, stating their commitment to customer safety and initiating an investigation. They wrote, “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 astonishment at the unexpected event, noting, "My PC was in sleep mode. Since then, I checked the USB port with a voltage meter and it's fine. No clue how this can happen." The incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential risks associated with electronic devices, even those as seemingly innocuous as a wired mouse.