iPod pants on fire: liar liar?

Even though this was first reported two days ago, we couldn’t call ourselves “Geeks are Sexy” if we didn’t write about a case of iPod-induced pants on fire.

Danny Williams was working at his kiosk at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport and listening to his iPod Nano, when suddenly the music got a little bit too hot. Apparently the lithium ion battery (yes, the same kind of battery that produced several cases of exploding laptops last year and, um, “sparked” a recall) caught fire right in Danny’s pants pocket.

According to Williams, flames shot up to his chest before he noticed anything was going on (I don’t know what he was listening to, so maybe that extra warm feeling in his pants didn’t seem out of the ordinary). But he avoided having his meatballs broiled, thanks to an amazingly fire-retardent piece of glossy paper in his pocket. As one commenter on engadget said,

Ah yes, we all know the life saving properties of a “glossy piece of paper”. After all it’s what all flak jackets are made of.

Lots more great comments over at Fake Steve and Gizmodo.

Perhaps Danny’s story has been exaggerated just a wee bit. But I don’t doubt that the unit actually did overheat. After all, it’s happened before. Apple has reportedly offered to replace the year-old Nano, but I’m betting that Danny (or his lawyer) might be looking to cook up something more than that.