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 caught fire, nearly burning down their apartment. The incident occurred early in the morning when the user detected the smell of smoke and rushed into their room to find the mouse engulfed in flames, filling the room with black smoke. Quick action allowed them to extinguish the fire, but not before inhaling a significant amount of smoke and leaving their room, including a modular synth, covered in black particles.

The Gigabyte M6880X is an older wired, optical mouse that operates on a standard USB 2.0 connection, drawing just 5V at 0.5A. Despite its seemingly innocuous specifications, the mouse's catastrophic failure has sparked widespread concern. Images shared by lommelinn show the top rear panel of the mouse completely melted, while the underside remained relatively undamaged. The cause of the fire, particularly why it was confined to the top casing, remains a mystery. Additionally, the damage extended to the user's desk and mousepad, which were also affected by the heat.

My Gigabyte mouse caught fire and almost burned down my apartment

byu/lommelinn inpcmasterrace

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

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 unexpected event, noting that their PC was in sleep mode at the time of the incident. They also mentioned checking the USB port with a voltage meter and finding it to be functioning normally, leaving them puzzled about how the fire could have started.