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Los Angeles woman burned after portable charger explodes on her bed

Still in shock after her portable charger exploded on her bed nearly a week ago, Los Angeles woman Ashley Nevel is grateful for her dad's housewarming gift that prevented a massive fire. The terrifying ordeal happened inside her Woodland Hills apartment last Saturday morning."Put my phone down for literally five seconds, and my portable charger, which was plugged into it, exploded," Nevel said. "I could have died. "My hand could have exploded off."The explosion set Nevel's bed on fire, and chemicals burned her arm. Wounded and with a fire burning in her bedroom, Nevel scrambled to grab a blanket to snuff out the flames, but it didn't work. Running out of options, Nevel remembered her father's housewarming gift: a fire blanket."Ran in my kitchen, grabbed the fire blanket, put it over it," Nevel recalled. "It stopped the flames immediately."With the flames out, Nevel ran to her balcony, screaming for help and pleading with anyone who could hear her to call 911 after her phone overheated.

"It was the scariest experience I ever had in my life," Nevel said. The explosion left Nevel with limited mobility in one of her thumbs, making it hard to hold onto anything without a full grip.She hopes her story helps raise awareness of the potential dangers of portable chargers powered by lithium-ion batteries. "We all use portable chargers all the time, and we never think, 'Oh, this might explode,'" she said.

Nevel bought hers on Amazon over the summer. It's no longer listed on the website, and the company said its staff is looking into the incident. CBS LA could not find any recalls under the brand name, but the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned buyers to only use chargers approved for the specific device, and to never leave portable chargers unattended or sleep with them. "I could have died," Nevel said. "I could have killed other people ... I just pray this doesn't happen to anyone else."