Cell phone battery catches fire, burns hacker’s tail at Defcon

A cell phone battery spontaneously caught fire today, burned through a Defcon attendee’s back pants pocket, and fell on the floor, creating burn spots on a carpet and leaving a burn-hole in the attendee’s chair.

The man, who asked not to be identified, was not harmed but his trousers were ruined. He told CNET that he was sitting in a session at Defcon around 11:30 a.m. PT when he started to smell something burning and felt some heat underneath him on his seat. He stood up to find that his back left pocket was on fire.