Dell battery explodes at Yahoo HQ, hundreds evacuate

We just got word that a Yahoo employee's laptop went up in flames today at their Mission College campus down in Silicon Valley, causing hundreds of Yahoo employees to be evacuated from an 8-story building. The culprit: you guessed it, a Dell machine whose faulty cell that should have been replaced (don't they have corporate memos at those big companies?) instead caught fire. From what we now know it doesn't seem like anyone was hurt, but let this be a lesson, people: you have the means, now take Dell up on the freaking recall before something disastrous happens.

Update: So it looks like Yahoo uses HP and Mac laptops -- not Dells -- making it very likely this was someone's personal machine that they brought to work. Wrong day to bring your laptop to the office, man.

[Victor @ Sep 20th 2006 4:41PM]

Yes Jason...these pictures look TOTALLY fake..

http://flickr.com/photos/stewart/248457791/

Or maybe this one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uvince/

You obviously don't practice your due diligence before making claims.

[Josh @ Sep 20th 2006 4:42PM]

The story is true. The link to flickr is Stuart Butterfields flickr page. Stuart works in the same building as the exploding laptop, and is also the co-founder of Flickr. I don't think anyone is lying here.

[Alex M @ Sep 20th 2006 4:44PM]

Any chance that was a troll? Anyone?
He's also got a virus that turns caps lock on and off repeatedly

[Ryan G. @ Sep 20th 2006 5:23PM]

Chill out man. Any chance you work for Dell in the battery procurement department?

[Jake @ Sep 20th 2006 6:10PM]

To Jason about the Zune story being fake...

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5223245

It's awful hard to make a Photoshop that gets posted on WalMart's site as a product.

[Biff_Meister @ Sep 20th 2006 7:19PM]

Now we know why no one visits Jason's blog.

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[the.cha.guy @ Sep 20th 2006 4:16PM]

jeez, that thing was incinerated.

[LittleJoe @ Sep 20th 2006 4:21PM]

Im suprised noone has actually been injured by one of these yet.

[Phil @ Sep 20th 2006 4:24PM]

To #2:

Especially when you'd consider it as being a chemical fire that emits toxic gasses. Scary.

[ruzkin @ Sep 20th 2006 6:16PM]

A Japanese businessmen sustained reasonable burns from when his Apple laptop went up in flames - the wooden table he was sitting at was much worse off though, had the shit burnt through it.

[russ @ Sep 20th 2006 10:16PM]

maybe those who've been hurt have got nice little payouts that's made them go a bit quiet?

[PMX @ Sep 20th 2006 4:23PM]

...yet those annoying Centrino & XP stickers wouldn't come off!

[paul @ Sep 20th 2006 4:24PM]

looks like a scene from alien, but more scary

[Stephen @ Sep 20th 2006 4:55PM]

Ouch. It's only time before someone does get hurt by one of these.

It's awful that cheap manufacturing, it seems, is causing such chaos.

[Kambiz Kamrani @ Sep 20th 2006 4:34PM]

Is that a 700m? I think it is...

[jalabi @ Sep 21st 2006 7:07PM]

Yes, it's a Dell Inspiron 700m -- I can tell by the shape of the buttons underneath the trackpad. The whitish cast to the thing is probably due to the fire extinguisher foam or something.

Remember: only you can prevent Dell fires...change your batteries now, PLEASE :)

[Grandpa @ Sep 20th 2006 4:29PM]

Actually all fires emit "toxic gasses".

[Phil @ Sep 20th 2006 4:53PM]

Of course, I should've clarified. Chemical fires are far more toxic/lethal than your standard wood fires.

[Alex M @ Sep 20th 2006 4:28PM]

"Before something disastrous happens"

I'd call a laptop catching fire in front of my eyes pretty disastrous

[Wonderboy @ Sep 20th 2006 4:30PM]

That's the point Alex, they're saying trade in your bad batteries before this happens to you...

[Victor @ Sep 20th 2006 4:42PM]

On the page, this yahoo employee has this funny post.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uvince/248443903/

"Laptop Explodes
Yahoo! MC1 evacuates
Everybody eats Lunch!
IT reminds us not to buy Dells "

[Paul @ Sep 20th 2006 4:44PM]

@ Jason.

Your seriously $%#@ed up aren't you? Yesterday you claim you ain't coming back to this site again, and today you post some more garbage..

Make your mind up.

[Dung @ Sep 20th 2006 5:39PM]

If this is a 700m, why is the battery on top of the keyboard and not in the back of the laptop like it should be?

Would someone really be cool enough to throw a flaming acid pack on their laptop from behind?

[Charlie Ashford @ Sep 20th 2006 4:49PM]

Shut up Jason, you weirdo...
And remember-

[Rodney L. @ Sep 21st 2006 7:49AM]

You know, they should get internet access at those big companies. They might have found out about this sooner.

[Charlie Ashford @ Sep 20th 2006 4:50PM]

http://www.argaste.com/img/arguing_on_the_internet.jpg

[CharlieVictor @ Sep 20th 2006 6:45PM]

that is FREAKING great, you made my day!!!
Thank you

[fourthe @ Sep 20th 2006 4:51PM]

http://flickr.com/photos/stewart/248442701/in/photostream/

The laptop that caused all of our office tower to be evacuated. A Dell. (But they are Sony batteries.)

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 20th 2006 5:43PM]

I was thinking the exact same thing...why is the battery on the keyboard? It's obviously fused there. So, what or why was the battery sitting on the laptop? The inner conspiritist in me wants to think this is a fraud.

[Jeff @ Sep 20th 2006 5:06PM]

It's a real story, but you can't blame Yahoo!'s IT department. We are exclusively a HP/Compaq shop (with Macs for designers who want them), so this must belong to a visitor or be someone's personal laptop (which would really suck since they actually spent their own money on it).

[Craig @ Sep 20th 2006 5:10PM]

I don't understand, I have a 710M and the battery is on the back of the computer...

[Nith @ Sep 20th 2006 5:10PM]

So when are we going to hear a story of one of the laptops exploding on a plane?

[ja$on @ Sep 20th 2006 5:15PM]

Samuel L. Jackson should make a movie called "Dells on a plane." It would be totally scary. Those things would be blowing up left and right. It would be awesome when he says "I'm sick and tired of these motherf****** dells on this motherf****** plane."

[Bart @ Sep 20th 2006 5:45PM]

Why is the laptop sitting on its monitor instead of the keyboard? Is there a logical explanation for setting up the photo like that? Or is it just a crazy way the people at Yahoo use their laptops?

[bluemonq @ Sep 20th 2006 5:26PM]

...then again, if he hadn't brought it to work and left it at home, what are the odds that he would have come back after work to a burned shell of a house?

[Del @ Sep 20th 2006 5:31PM]

Of course this is a fake, for a start how did the battery explode, unclip itself from under the machine and then find it's way on to the keyboard.

[Jayson @ Sep 20th 2006 5:35PM]

My big question would be how the battery got on top of the keyboard and then fused to the notebook? Did he remove the battery when he realized the problem and then put it on top of the notebook to be certain it would be destroyed and replaced by Dell?

[Ajay @ Sep 20th 2006 5:42PM]

This is not a fake (I don't know what anyone would have to gain by making up such a story).
I spoke to the guy whose laptop it was: it was a personal laptop (Yahoo uses HP/Compaqs exclusively).
The owner took out the battery and the pictures you see are after the laptop was hosed down.
I took some pictures too, if anyone is interested in seeing _yet_ another Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajays/sets/72157594292843510/

[Mike Browning @ Sep 20th 2006 5:58PM]

Headline should be updated to reflect the fact that Dell does NOT make the battery. A more accurate headline would be "Sony battery explodes" or "A battery in a Dell laptop explodes."

[Koyaanisqatsi @ Sep 20th 2006 8:28PM]

How did the battery - burning and melting - end up on the TOP OF THE KEYBOARD? Notice that the battery compartment on this particular laptop (which you can see in the other photo on flickr) is basically intact. And judging by the fire extinguisher blast all over the laptop (or maybe white chemical ash), the battery was on the keyboard while it was burning, not placed there after the fact. I smell hoax.

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 20th 2006 9:19PM]

No, I've stated it before and I'll state it again. I don't know anyone that would first be able to pull out the battery and place it on the laptop, close the battery cover and run for the extinguisher without thinking twice about putting said battery back on the laptop it came out of. If I had a hissing, hot or steaming battery, the last place I would think to put it would be ON the laptop that contains my information. It would most likely end up in a sink (if one was available), a metal trash can (or a plastic one until I could rush said device outside) or the floor. That is, if I had time, or the ability to pull it out. According to my knowledge of different types of batteries, most of them will expand when they get hot. This might make it extrememly difficult to pull that battery out of the laptop in the first place. If the user was truly distressed to try to take the battery out, why would they place the battery back on the device they were trying to "save" by removing the battery??? Ugh! Something about this doesn't sit well with me...